Copycat: An X-Men OC Story
by NicoleSavage21
Summary: In 1983, Harley Jeknovorian became a part of the X-Men. Experience the story of the young mutant from the battle with Apocalypse to her love story with Kurt Wagner, and learn about the mutant who became known as Copycat. I don't own anything of X-Men
1. A Normal Day at the X-Mansion

**I don't own anything of the X-Men**

* * *

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The school run by Professor Charles Xavier or simply Professor X. Populated by 147 students, 15 teachers, and hundreds of bedrooms. In this mansion lived one mutant who was like every other mutant in this school.

She sat in a desk for Professor Xavier's physics class. The girl was about seventeen years of age. Her hair was black with highlights of blonde, wavey and teased a lot. Her eyes were green and her corneas were small to where she practically had cat eyes. Not only that, but her ears were on top of her head and they were cat ears. Her mutation may have altered her appearance by a little, but it didn't bothered her. She wore a black shirt, short grey pants, black tights, black combat boots, and a red plaid shirt. The mutant was average height with long legs and a slight pear-shaped body.

In class, she was writing down everything the Professor was saying in his lecture. She sat next to Jubilee, who would usually copy off of her papers.

Jubilee raises her hand to answer the Professor's question, but they were interrupted by Dr. McCoy, a boy with bandages on his eyes, and an unfamiliar guy.

"That will be your assignment for tomorrow," Professor Xavier ends the lesson. "Class dismissed."

The girl gather her papers into her binder and followed Jubilee put the doors.

For a moment, she gazes at the older boy with thick brown hair. A vision flashes through her mind. It was of him. The man let's out a roar and red energy begins to blast from his chest. After that, she snaps back into reality. She knew who he was.

Outside of the door, she stops her friend and whispers, "Jubes, it's him."

"Who?" She asked, confused by her friend's fascination.

"Havok!" She said his name. Harley knew very well who he was. "He's one of the first members of the X-Men."

Jubilee giggles as they walked down the hallways. "I'll admit he's pretty cute. What's his mutation, being dashingly handsome?"

"Energy Conversion." She informs her. "He can blasts energy from his body and hands."

"What about the kid with the bandages?" She asked.

"I don't know. I didn't have time to read him."

"Let's go back to see." Jubilee attempts to pull her back into the classroom, but Harley stops the short girl.

Harley sighs, "Nah, he's talking to Professor. I don't wanna interrupt."

Her friend rolls her eyes and pouts. "Okay, fine. You're no fun, Harley. I got Chemistry homework to do."

"I'm going to the field. See you later, Jubes."

"Bye, Harley."

Harley takes off to her bedroom, which on the second floor, fourth door to the left. Of course it was a big place to be both a house and a school. On the first floors were the classrooms, library, kitchen, and large living room. On the second, third, and fourth floors were mostly bedrooms and a few more classrooms.

Everybody had their own room in the mansion. Harley walked into her bedroom. Her beds was full size with black and purple bed sheets. She had posters of rock bands and celebrities on her wall and a desk next to her window.

Harley quickly got dressed into basketball shorts, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. She pulls her thick, fuzzy hair into a low ponytail. It was now becoming a habit to leave her hair down since people get disturbed by her not having human ears nor having her ears on the side of her head but on top.

Every mutation was different for everyone. Some don't show it physically, but some do. Harley knew that Hank McCoy would still take medicine that affected his mutation, making him look human for certain periods of time. Most of the time, Hank knew it was selfish, but he figured that not everybody is still ready for Beast.

After getting dressed, Harley heads outside to the fields, where most of the students hang out or play sports.

"Harley!" A boy with shaggy green hair and braces runs over to the mutant girl. He was a boy no younger than twelve and hugged her.

"Hey, Max." She kindly smiles at him. "How you doin'?"

"Great. Come on, everybody's waiting for you."

The two sprinted to the basketball court with a group of four other kids. Only two of them were teenagers and the others were younger pre-teens.

"Let's go, guys. Okay, remember the rule: no powers, guys. That includes no flying, no fast reflexes, no jumping high, no creating portals, etc." She warns them.

Not all the students in school have full control of their powers, but some take advantage. Occasionally, Harley would see someone fly up to the top of the stairs instead of actually walking or somebody else using x-ray vision to copy off of someone else's test. Harley never really had to use powers for everyday life.

An hour passes as Harley plays basketball with her friends. She was already starting to sweat and she had homework.

"Okay, that's enough for me today." She breathes.

"Oh, come on, Harley!" Max begs her. "Stay!"

Her friend with red and black eyes vows, "Yeah, we won't cheat anymore!"

"Sorry, guys, I've got homework to do." She apologizes as she takes off.

Before going to her room, she saw her redheaded friend from across the lake. Harley walks over to her and says, "Hey, Jean. Whacha' doin'?"

"Oh, hi, Harley." Jean Grey prepares another arrow into her bow. "Just doing my calming exercises that Professor X assigned me to."

Jean releases the arrow and makes a perfect bull's eye. "Damn you're good," Harley comments.

"Thanks. What are you doing out here?"

"I was just playing basketball with the kids, but I gave up on them. It's hard for them to play with the no-power rule."

The telepath smirks, "Well, it's pretty tough when you're playing with kids who can fly, jump high, and bite."

"Exactly." Far from them was Professor Xavier, Hank McCoy, the boy with bandages, and Havok. Harley points them out to Jean. "Ooh, newbie, twelve o'clock."

Jean turns to their direction and mentions to her friend, "I bumped into him earlier today. I freaked him out a little by talking in his head, but he and I weren't exactly kind to one another."

"Hang on, I'm reading his power." The mutant carefully concentrates on the bandage boy and goes into another vision. She saw the boy opening his eyes and blasting red energy from them. Once she came back, she tells Jean, "Ooh, I like this one. Jean, don't read my mind or his. Just watch."

"Okay, last time you said that, you copied fire powers and burped fire." She reminds her

"You gotta admit that it was funny, right. Nah, I think you're really gonna like his power."

Both girls stood there and watched as the boy carefully removes his wrap from his eyes. He kept them shut and hesitated for a moment. Finally, he opens his eye and the powerful red energy blasts towards the water, the grass, and into a tree. His power startles both Dr. McCoy, Professor Xavier, and everyone nearby. Once it stops, the tree splits in half and falls down.

"Holy shit." Harley gasps in amazement. "That was awesome!"

Instead of cheering, Jean stood there impressed by the new guy's ability. "His power is very unique," she says. "Harley, I'll admit not knowing is part of the fun."

As the group of men take off towards the X-Mansion, Harley gently elbows Jean in the arm and murmurs, "He seems dreamy."

Her friend chuckles, "You'll say that to any guy."

"Maybe you're right. He doesn't seem to be my type." Then, an idea pops into her head. "Maybe he's your type."

"Really?" Jean raises an eyebrow. "I don't think so. He might blast my head off."

"Hey, I'm sure Dr. McCoy can help him. Come on, Jean. A boyfriend might be the perfect solution for you. He looks like he's your type. He's a guy."

Harley knew not a lot of people want to be friends with Jean for certain reasons, but she want the telepath to have some kind of happiness in her life. "I'm not interested in love right now." Jean denies it.

"Okay, suit yourself."

"What is your type, Harley?" Jean asked, not wanting to read her mind without her permission.

It was difficult to think of a guy since the guys here aren't really interested in her. "I'm looking for someone good. Maybe a mutant. Different from any other guy I've met. Someone who won't be creeped out by this."

Jean purses her lips. "Harles, there's nothing wrong with your ears or eyes. If a guy really likes you, then he should be able look past your eyes and ears."

"I know, but you're not the one who looks like a mutated housecat." Harley mumbles. "I gotta go. Got some homework to do." She walks away from Jean and goes back to the mansion.

Before her mutation, Harley had looked completely normal. She's had about two boyfriends in her whole life, but now it was hard. Harley didn't want a boyfriend right now, but she wished people weren't so judgmental when it came to beauty.

In the halls, Harley was about to go into her room until she stopped by two familiar faces. "Hey, Pussycat, going to hunt some mice?" The girl with long, light brown hair smirks.

Harley sighs, "Sydney, Chris, why am I not surprised to see both of you?"

"Maybe you were too busy cleaning out your litterbox," the girl with pink eyes mocks her.

"Good one, Chris!" Sydney snorts.

"What more insults could you say today?"

Chris grins. "I was just wondering . . . this school is for mutants. So why are you even here?"

Her obvious question made Harley fold her arms and sarcastically respond, "Gee, I don't know, Chris. Maybe it's because I am a mutant. Did you ever think of that? That could be the answer."

"No, I mean people who go here have powers. You don't have any."

"Yeah, Harley, you just copy our powers." Sydney added. "That's it."

That would usually hurt her feelings, but Harley still stood tall. "You just turn invisible, and you just grow your hair. I can have anybody's powers."

"Well, I am never sharing my powers with anyone, especially you." Sydney informed her.

"You never shared a pizza." Harley manages to insult her.

The girl with long hair drops her jaw. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about when you're inhaling your next cherry pie for breakfast." Harley proudly begins to walk away until something grabs hold of her arm. "Hey!"

It was Sydney who has made a thick piece of her hair wrap around the other mutant 's forearm. "You better watch your mouth, Whiskers," she warns her.

Even though she was in a bad situation, Harley stills manages to keep running her mouth. "When's the last time you wash this thing?"

"You're no mutant. You're nothing but a copycat."

"Girls, is there a problem here?" A voice startles them.

Sydney then releases Harley as Hank McCoy steps closer to the girls. Nobody was afraid of him, but none of the girls wanted to get in trouble.

"No, of course not, Dr. McCoy," Chris convincingly lies to him. "We were just talking."

"I hope so because I'd hate to give you girls detention tomorrow," he tells them.

"Dr. McCoy, we weren't doing anything," Sydney lies as well. "We're going to my room to study for our history quiz so if you'll excuse us. See you, Pussycat."

As they walk away to their room, Harley turns back and says aloud, "See you too, Bug Eyes, Medusa."

"Medusa?" Hank repeated. "I'll admit that's catchy."

Harley chuckles, "Sorry about that, Dr. McCoy. In all fairness, I know Chris wears headgear when she sleeps."

"I know that too. Anyways, I gotta go. Harley, this time, try not to get into any more arguments."

"No promises, Doctor." She say as she walks away.

In her room, Harley did her algebra homework, which she usually had trouble with. Hours had passed and Harley fell asleep on her desk. It was cozy for her as she rests her head on her papers. Everything was peaceful until a rattling had awaken her from her slumber.

Harley's eyes shot open and she sat right up. She looks around as everything in her room was shaking. Once it stopped, Harley noticed that it was nighttime. Like everybody in school, she knew this wasn't an earthquake.

"Oh, no." She mumbles. "Jean."

She walked to the hallways and noticed that all the kids were standing outside of their bedrooms. Professor Xavier was rolling into the hallway and calming everyone down, "Alright, everybody back to bed. Please, back to bed."

"She's doing it again." A kid whispered.

As the Professor headed to Jean Grey's room, Hank stopped by Harley and asks, "Harley, could you make sure that everybody gets back to bed?"

"Of course, Dr. McCoy." Dr. McCoy follows the powerful telepath and Harley does what he says. "Come on, kids, back to bed. Freddie, go to your room."

Chris, who was next to Sydney, whispers, "I don't get why she's even here."

"Someday she's really gonna hurt someone," Sydney mumbles as she folds her arms.

"Dr. McCoy says back to bed." Harley informs them.

Sydney gives her a look and says, "How can you be so peaceful when you know she's going off now?"

She hated how people could say things about her friend. "Jean is not going to hurt anyone. She's normal."

"You detect powers, Harley," Chris points out to her. "Don't act like you don't know what the hell she is."

Finally, the two girls walked back to their bedrooms like everybody else. Harley passes by her young friend who was a little girl with freckles and blonde hair.

"Harley, I'm scared," the little girl whimpers.

"Natalie, you want me to tuck in?" The girl nods to her question. "Okay, come on."

Harley takes the small child into her room and laid her down in her bed. As she tucks her in, Natalie questions her, "Why is she here?"

"Who?"

"Jean."

It's not that Jean was a horrible, nasty person. Unlike the rest of the students, her powers were a bit too much, even for Professor Xavier to handle. "Like the rest of us." The girl with cat ears answers. "We want to control our powers."

"But she shakes the whole house and you're her only friend."

"Not true. There's Jubilee."

Natalie was still curious about the redhead who lives in the same mansion as them. "Is Jean mean?" She asks Harley.

"No, she's not. She's sweet, nice, and pretty funny." That was the truth. Harley didn't judge Jean by her powers, but rather by her personality.

"You're not afraid of her? I wish I was brave like you, Harley."

"It's not about being brave, Natalie," Harley tells her. "You just have to look past her powers and see her as one of us. She's a person just like you and me."

The little girl smiles. "I miss my mom."

"I know, Nat. I miss mine too. And all my brothers and sisters." She didn't want to spill her life story to child so she quickly changes the subject. "Okay, so good night. Sweet dreams, Natalie."

"Good night, Harley."

Harley quietly walks out of her room. Once she was in the hall, she saw the Professor coming out of Jean's room.

"Hello, Professor." Harley says to the man in wheelchair.

"Oh, hello, Harley." He was surprised by her. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I was just putting Natalie to sleep. I'm sorry, sir."

Charles Xavier rolls in front of her. "No, it's fine."

"How's Jean?" Harley asked, concerned for her friend.

"Better." He answers. "She's asleep now."

"I'm glad she's alright."

"Well, I'm glad she has you as her friend." He smiles at her.

The mutant girl shrugs her shoulders and smirks, "Why not? Jean is a great person. It's just that everybody thinks I'm like David and she's Goliath. I don't see the big deal is about Jean."

Professor X knees that Harley knows what kind of powers Jean had. "Harley, you detect all of our powers. You know how powerful Jean is."

"I do." She says.

"Is that why you never copied her powers?" The man asks her.

Jean didn't scare her, but her powers were a whole other story. Harley knew she couldn't lie to the Professor if she wanted to. Only an idiot would try to lie to a telepath. "Professor, Jean is one of my best friends, but her powers are very dangerous. I know there's more to her than just telepathy and telekinesis. I know that she has powers beyond anyone else's. I just don't want her to be afraid."

He takes her hand into his and looks up at her. "I understand, Harley."

"You think there's any other ways we can help her?" Harley asks him.

"She'll be alright for now. Just don't mention the whole house shaking thing to her, okay."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, Harley?"

"Yes, Professor."

"You called Alex Havok? I heard you mention it to Jubilee."

Her heart stopped for a second. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. No one was to ever speak of the X-Men, Raven, or Erik to the Professor, knowing that they were his biggest weaknesses. "I'm sorry, sir." She hesitantly apologizes. "It's just that . . . that time I copied your powers and I saw your mind. I saw the X-Men. You, Banshee, Angel, Havok, Magneto, Beast, Darwin, Mystique. Eventually, someone here would find out about the X-Men."

It's been a long time since he's heard those names. Memories were then triggered into his mind. "They were my first students," he tells her.

"You ever think someday . . . " Harley was so terrified to ask him her question. She didn't want to piss him off or create tension. " . . . the world might need them again. New X-Men, I mean."

Charles had never thought this day would come. Having his students fight and risk their lives was the last thing on his mind. "I'm sorry, my dear, but I cannot allow that. This is a school, not a superhero academy. I cannot risk any of your lives like what happened to my team."

"Okay, I understand." Another thing was wandering in her head. "Oh, Professor, I have another question."

"Yes?"

"Do you miss them? All of them?"

 _So much_ , he thought. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of any of them, but let's not dwell on the past. Try and get some rest."

"Yes, sir."

She begins to walk to her room. "Good night, Harley."

"Good night, Professor." She tells them.

In her opinion, she absolutely adored the Professor. He was like a father to her, to all the students at the mansion. Being a mutant at this age was already hard enough for all of them, but Professor Charles Xavier was always there for every single one of his children.


	2. Boys, Boys, Boys

_About the first chapter, they hadn't met yet, but now they do! Hopeful you love my OC Harley_

 _I don't own any X-Men_

For Harley, yesterday was like any other day at Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters. For some reason, she had a strange feeling that that today was going to be a bit different day.

She heard that Professor Xavier was out of town and that Dr. McCoy was in charge until he gets back. Harley walked down the halls of the school feeling confident and radiant as usually. She had on a light denim jacket, causal black dress that went above her knees, black leggings, and black converses.

When she went into the living room, she noticed Jean sitting with the Bandage Guy from yesterday. Instead of his bandages, he now had unique glasses covering his eyes.

"Hey, Jean." She says to her friend. _Remember_ , she thought. _Don't mention the shaking house. Wait, what the hell am I doing? Jean can probably hear me right now. This is so stupid._ "Oh, hey, you must be the new kid."

"Yeah, Scott Summers." He introduces himself.

"Harley Jeknovorian." She says her full name. ,"I'm the youngest of six kids."

"Six?"

Harley shrugs her shoulders. "Yeah, my dad wanted lots of kids. The oldest is my brother, Michael, then my sisters, Christina and Linda, my brother, Adam, my brother, Steven, and me."

"Well, I only got one brother so I can't say I can relate."

His brother, she thought. It was exciting to hear about hear about him. "I've heard that your brother used to come here. His power fascinated me so much."

Jean chuckles, "Harley had certain fetish for powers."

"Not a fetish," Harley snorts. "Just a little love for powers."

"What is your power exactly?" Scott asked, curious about her.

For one thing, Harley knew that her mutation was obvious by her eyes and ears, but certain people don't really know her true powers. I can detect powers and replicate mutant powers when I touch mutants."

"So you can basically have anyone's powers?"

"Totally yeah." She grins. "Can I see yours?"

"Uhh . . . I don't have another pair of glasses."

Harley knows that it was only him who can't control. "Don't worry. It's just you. You're the one who can stop the whole opening your eyes thing. I know it won't happen with me."

Before she could copy, Jean stops her. "Harley, before you do, just turn this way." She uses her telekinesis to open the window and face Harley at the window.

First, Harley lays his palm against Scott's neck. For her, replicating powers through skin to skin contact felt like some kind of energy spreading through your body in only three seconds. Once it stops, Harley is able to control it.

She lets out a quick blast from her eyes and it hits a tree. The mutant gasps, "Whoa! That was awesome!"

"Hey, guys," a familiar voice says to them.

"Hey, Jubilee." Jean and Scott said.

"We have another new student," she informs them. "He's actually an exchange student."

Harley quickly turns around and sees him. For a moment, it was like time was actually slowing down and everything was just perfect. She saw the new exchange student next to Jubilee. He was different. He was unique. His skin was dark blue with strange tattoos. He had black hair with blue highlight on his bangs and red eyes. The boy was tall and lanky with a tail. He only had three fingers on his hand, two toes on his feet, and fangs. Even though he looked like a demon from hell, Harley didn't see that in him at all. She saw grace, gentleness, and beauty in him.

A vision of his powers came to her. Harley saw him disappearing into smoke and reappear somewhere. She didn't even know his name yet and he kept surprising her every second.

Finally, Harley stutters, "Uh . . . Hello, hi. Uh . . . Hi?"

"Hi," he responds as he smiles at her.

Her mouth start to go dry. "I'm . . . Um . . . I'm . . . Jubes, what's my name?"

"Harley."

"My name is Harley. Harley . . . Uh . . . Harley . . . Jubes, what's my last name?"

Jubilee wanted to laugh her ass off at her friend. "Jeknovorian."

"Jeknovorian! Yeah, Harley Jeknovorian."

"Jeck-no-what- the-what?" He tried to say her last name.

It was a little embarrassing for her when no one can pronounce her last name, but he wasn't annoying her at all. "Jeknovorian. I'm Armenian so my last name is a mouthful. And you are?"

"Kurt Vagner," he said his name. _Kurt_ , Harley thought. _His name is Kurt. So perfect. I like his accent._

"Wow, a teleporter." Harley looks at him in amazement. "You're the first one I've ever met."

His eyes widen. "How did you know I teleport?"

Harley hated it when she sees their powers without the person's permission. It's not like she could read minds, but she felt she had already made him uncomfortable. "Harley can detect powers in mutants," Jubilee informs him.

"Yeah, it's not really a cool power."

"I zhink it's incredible." Kurt compliments her

The cat-eared mutant smiled and says, "Thank you."

"I'm Jean, by the way." Jean introduces herself. "Don't worry, Jubilee. I already know my name." She laughs as Harley blushes in embarrassed.

"I'm just showing Kurt around the house." Jubilee informs her friends.

Kurt tells them, "It's my first time in America. I am very excited to see your culture."

"Well, you are not going to see it here," Scott smirks. "The only thing American about this place is that it used to be British."

"This is Scott." Jubilee introduces him to Kurt. "He is new here too."

"And I'm already up for a prison break." Scott stands from the couch. "What do you say we take this blue guy on a little field trip? I'm sure there's a mall around here somewhere."

The blue mutant stands there confused. "Vhat's a mall?"

It came to Harley's mind that maybe Kurt wasn't a regular teenager. "What's a mall?" Scott repeated, shocked by Kurt. "Alright. Now it's a matter of national pride. Civic duty."

"Scott." Jean attempts to stop him.

"What? You've been cooped up here for a long time. And the Professor is not even home."

Harley did feel like going somewhere today. She, Jean, and Jubilee have never skipped, but they knew they would get in trouble. She didn't want to seem like a loser in front of Kurt. "I agree with Scott." Harley blurts out. "Come on, Jean. We never skipped once. You have straight A's, Jubilee has perfect attendance, and I've only had detention four times this month. We're the best students here."

"I don't know," Jean responded, unsure of what to do.

"I-I like to go to the mall," Kurt interrupts. His awkwardness made him ten times more adorable to Harley. "Try it."

"Alright. Where does he keep his cars?" Scott asks.

"Cars?" Jubilation Lee shrieks. "We're gonna take his car?"

"Well, you can't expect us to walk, right." Scott tells her.

Jean folds her arms and grins. "I know where all the cars are. Can one of you drive?"

"I can," Scott answered.

"Perfect." Harley says. "Let's go."

The group heads downstairs to the garage full of cars. Harley couldn't stop staring at Kurt. She wasn't disturbed by his monstrous appearance at all.

"Harley, close your mouth before you catch flies," Jean whispers as they are far behind Jubilee and Kurt.

Harley smiles and replies, "I can't help it, Jean. He's so . . . gorgeous."

Behind them was Scott, who gagged, "Gorgeous? Yeah, I'm not into the whole blue skin, tail, elf ears type."

"Good, Scott because he's definitely my type." Harley smirks.

"Nightmares." Scott mocks her

"Shut up," she growls at him.

The trio caught up with Kurt and Jubilee. Jean was the first to ask him personal questions. "So, Kurt, where are you from?"

"Germany." He answered her. "I was rescued by the blue lady."

His last words chimed like a bell in Harley's mind. "Blue lady? You mean Mystique? She's here?" She asked. Kurt nodded his head.

"Oh, Dr. McCoy is gonna be really happy." Jubilee giggles.

"Vhy?" Kurt Wagner asked. "Vere zhey friends?"

Mostly everyone was a fan of Mystique, but only Jean, Harley, and Jubilee knew that Hank McCoy had romantic interest in her. Every time someone said her name, he stutters and practically glowed. "More than that." Jubilee informs. "I know he and Mystique had a little fling back then."

"Yeah, I was wondering why you looked so familiar, Kurt." Harley mentions to the teleporter. "You're blue just like her. Are you sure you guys related?"

It had never crossed Kurt's mind, but he simply told them. "No, I don't think so. I never knew my real mother or my father. I vas raised by Margali Szardos along with her other children. Ve vere all part of a circus."

"So you actually came from a circus?" Scott asks, surprised by this. "For reals?"

"Scott!" Jean elbows him.

"What? It's just a question."

Kurt answers, "Yes, I am."

"Oh, that's cool." Jean says. "What exactly did you do?"

"I vas an acrobat. My siblings and I always did the tightrope valking and acrobatics."

Harley was already so fascinated by him. "Well, you're really gonna like it here, Kurt. Just wait until you meet Professor Xavier. He owns this school."

"You zhink he might not like vhat he sees?" He asks her.

The four teenagers figured that some people wouldn't be as calm as they are with Kurt. Sure, none of them care how he looks, but they don't know how others will react to him. "Don't worry, Kurt." Scott assures him. "The professor is cool. Just be careful what you're thinking. He reads minds."

"So does Jean." Jubilee added.

"Hey, people get freaked out at first." Jean chuckles. "As long as they don't do the number game, I'm good."

Her friend, Harley jokes with her. "Jean, what number am I thinking of?"

"7,296." Jean answers with no hesitation.

"Damn, you're good."

At last, they reached the garage. "Okay, here it is." Jean says. "Oh, crap. We can't get it. The professor has a good password lock. Jubilee?"

"I got it." Jubilation Lee wiggles her fingers at the electronic lock and sparks flew from her hand to the lock. "There we go."

The large doors slid open and the garage was full of hot rods and motorcycles.

"Which one should we get?" Scott asked.

"How about zhis one?" Kurt suggests the yellow car in front of him.

The four look at it, and Scott smiles. "I like your taste, my friend."

Jean finds the keys hanging on a hook and tosses it to Scott. "Here's the keys."

He catches it and says, "Let's go, guys."

"I call shotgun!" Jubilee shouts as she hops in the passenger seat.

As Scott and Jubilee get in the front, Jean, Kurt, and Harley pile in the back. Harley anxiously sat in between Kurt and Jean in the back. Her heart accelerates as their shoulders touch.

Jean, you might wanna leave my head 'cuz I'm thinking dirty right now, she thought.

Scott pulls out of the garage and drives out onto the road. "Alright, Kurt, you wanna learn about America?" Scott asks him as he turns on the radio. "Lesson number one: music. This is American music. Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, Rick Springfield, Journey."

"Scott, leave it there." Jubilee smacks his hand away from the radio. "I love this song!"

"Vhat is a mall, Harley?" Kurt Wagner asks her.

"Kurt, it's a big place full stores and places," Harley naturally answers him. "They have food courts, hair salons, clothes, and other things."

"It sounds lovely," he says.

"It is." Jubilee tells him. "Lots of people our age go there."

She sings along to the song on radio, and the group of friends laugh as she tries to hit the high notes. Harley was enjoying every minute of this moment with her new friends, especially Kurt.

"There's the mall." Jean points to the huge building.

Kurt looks at the mall in amazement. Though she wouldn't admit it, but Harley thought Kurt look cute with that look on his face. "It is huge!" He shrieked in excitement.

Once they all got out of the car, Scott continues his American Culture lessons with Kurt. "Lesson number two: you need some new clothes. I'll admit that your look is unique, but Americans wear leg warmers, tube tops, and leather jackets."

Jean rolls her eyes. "That is not true. We dress normal."

"Come on, Kurt." Harley tells him. "I can buy you something."

"Maybe clothes. I see zhat my clothes are different from everybody."

"I'm sure we can find you something," Jubilee says as she and Harley nearly drag Kurt to the nearest department store.

The first one they found was very edgy and cool. Most of the customers looked at them, but others simply saw them as regular people. Instead of searching for clothes for Kurt, they went straight to the front to ask the cashier his opinion.

"Hi, can I he—Whoa!" He lets out a yelp once he turns back to them. "Um . . . oh, my god."

That kind of reaction was pushing Harley off the edge. She could tell that the guy was staring horrifically at her and Kurt. "Is something wrong, sir?" Harley Jeknovorian sarcastically says. "Is there something in my teeth?"

"No, Harley, it's obviously me." Jubilee went along with it. "I didn't think anybody would notice the huge pimple on my forehead. That's what you mean, right?"

The employee slowly nodded. "Oh, yes. I didn't mean to stare. Can I help you guys with something?"

"Yeah, our friend here needs a new look," Scott informs him. "It's his first time in America so something that will Americanize him."

"Well, I think we can find something." The man smiles as he leads Kurt to the dressing room. "Come on, I got the perfect thing for you."

While Kurt was getting his American makeover, Scott and the girls were looking through clothes. "Look at this." Scott said as he shows them blue and yellow spandex pants. "You think blue and yellow are my color?"

"Yeah, if you wanna look like a troll." Jean Grey snorts as she checks out a leopard print skirt.

Jubilee laughs. "Ooh, nice one, Jean!"

"Hey, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing spandex or anything like that." The boy with the red glasses puts the pants back.

"But you'll wear that jacket." Harley jokes with him.

Then, Jean and Jubilee started laughing. "She told you!" Jubilee chuckles.

Scott makes a face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very funny, Catgirl."

The guy came out of the dressing room and asked, "Okay, what do you think of your friend?"

Kurt came out dressed in a black T-shirt, khaki pants, and the Michael Jackson's Thriller Jacket. He smiled as he shows his new friends his new clothes.

"Wow." Jean gasped.

"Awesome," Scott responds.

"Kurt, you look great." Jubilee compliments him.

"Really?" He questions them. "Do you like it?"

,Harley folds her arms and replies, "You're definitely rockin' the Thriller look, Kurt. I'll pay."

She follows the man to the cash register, who tells her, "$21.53." Harley pulls out a wad of cash out of her jacket pocket and hands it to the man. "So your friend isn't from here?"

"It's his first day in America," Harley mentions to him. "He wants to experience all of it today."

"Really? I thought he was just trying to impress a girl. He told me he wanted to look good in front of some girl named Harley. Poor dude was nervous that I had to cut the pants for his tail to fit."

For a moment, Harley stood there shocked by the worker's information. Knowing that Kurt wanted to look good in front of her made her smile as bright as the sun, but on the outside, she remained calm. "Really? That's interesting. Thank you so much."

"Let's go, guys," Scott says as he leads his friends to the inside of the mall. "Lesson number three: walk in style."

"Really, Scott?" Jean asked him.

"Hey, let him show off his new clothes."


	3. Coming to America

The five friends rode up the escalator, which frightened Kurt a little, but he got on in time. When they were on the second floor, they walked in style as Scott had said. Harley was in the middle of them as they confidently walked into the mall.

Unknown to her friends, this was the first time in months that Harley has been out in public since her mutation transformation. It bothered her a little that a few people glanced at them, but she tries to avoid them. Harley almost laughed her ass off once she saw Jubilee grab Kurt's tail before he wanders off.

"Zhis place is like a temple," Kurt gasps as his eyes wandering all over the mall. "I've never seen anything more beautiful. Zhey don't fear us."

"Some do, but others aren't exactly thrilled." Jean explains to him.

"Come on, let's go have some fun," Scott says, not wanting to waste their time just looking at stuff.

Before any of them can take off, Jubilee stops him. "It's Kurt's first mall trip. We should go where he wants to."

"I don't know vhere to begin." The curious blue mutant looks around and spots the Space Port. "Vhat is zhat place?"

"That's an arcade." Scott informs him. "It's full of video games, which is lesson number four."

All of them headed towards the arcade, which was filled was kids and teenagers. Jubilee, Scott, and Jean were already headed to some of the video games.

"Vhat is zhis?" Kurt asked. "Pac-Man?"

Harley had decided to stay with Kurt, feeling that he didn't want to be alone. "I'll teach you how to play. It goes like this."

In about forty-five minutes, Harley Jeknovorian had officially introduced Kurt to Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Galaga, and Frogger. To her surprise, Kurt was a master at Donkey Kong and Centipede.

During their little duel in Pac-Man, Harley then notices Kurt playing Space Invaders with his tail.

"Didn't know you can do that with your tail." Harley giggles at him.

"It's easy," he tells her. "Having a tail is like having a second arm."

A little boy looks at Kurt's tail and mumbles, "Rad."

When Kurt's tail stops playing it goes back behind him and lowers down. A girl wearing a casual red dress was playing air hockey behind him. The tip of his tail then went up underneath his skirt. She turns back and shrieks, "Hey, watch where you're sticking that thing!"

The blue mutant looks at her and says, "Oh, sorry, ma'am. I cannot control it. It has a mind of its own."

As the girl goes back to her game, Harley whispers to Kurt, "I thought you could."

"I know." He snickers, which makes her laugh.

"Guys, we should go to the food court." Jean suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." Harley says as she grabs Kurt's hand to go to the food court.

Once again, the teleporter is astonished by the mall. "Zhere are so much food here," he breathes. "I don't know vhere to begin."

"I'll make a suggestion." Scott was leading them to a small slushie stand. "Want a slushie?"

"Guys, we should go see a movie too." Jean suggested, wanting to make most of the day.

"That's sounds fun," Jubilee smiles. "I'm gonna get a paper to see what's on. Get me a mango slushie."

Jubilee takes off to the small newspaper stand as her friends get their slushies. Each of them got different types of drinks, and found a table for them to sit at.

When the girl in the yellow jacket returns, Kurt was already drinking most of his slushie. Harley giggles as her new friend slurps up his drink.

"Okay, there's one at one, four, and seven, but that is too late." Jubilee informs her friends as she reads the paper for movie schedule.

Moments later, Kurt was finished with his drink. He then begins freaking out and holding his head. "Ahh!" Scott and the girls turned to him. "Something's wrong!"

"It's called a brain-freeze," Scott impassively tells him.

"Vhat?!" The blue guy shrieked. "I froze my brain?!"

"Yeah."

"Scott!" Jubilee elbows him.

He laughs, "What? I'm kidding."

"It's nothing, Kurt." Jean Grey assures the guy. "It'll go away."

"Are you sure?" Kurt panted, never experiencing the pain of a brain freeze.

"Yeah."

"Anyways, should we go at four or one?" Jubilee asked.

Harley then answers, "We should go at one. Kurt hasn't seen all of the mall yet."

"Okay so we'll go see Return of the Jedi at one." They make it official.

Their friend, Scott groans, "Another Star Wars movie? You think the second one was already enough?"

"Well, there were so many unanswered questions, Scott." Jean tells him.

"We already found out who his father is." The guy with glasses argues with his friends. "It's Darth Vader."

"You guys did not know zhat?" Kurt asks, now recovered from his first brain freeze.

"Kurt, how could know that?"

"My sister, brother, and I once snuck into a movie theatre in Berlin." Harley was surprised that Kurt is the troublemaking type. "Ve saw Zhe Empire Strikes Back. It vas obvious zhat he was Luke's father."

"How?" Jean asks.

"Vader sounds like Vater, vhich means father in German."

"Really?" Harley responds to it. "Well, we gotta see if they find Han Solo. I know Leia's gonna end up with him."

Scott snorted. "No way. She's gonna end up with Luke."

"Zhat's not gonna happen," Kurt smirks as he brushes his black and blue hair back with his fingers.

"She kissed him!"

"So she kissed Han too!" Harley joined in on the argument.

"But remember she kissed Luke to make Han jealous." Kurt Wagner pointed out.

"Kurt's got a point there." Jean agrees with him.

Wanting be to be right, Scott Summers decides to make a fun out of this conflict. "Okay, I'll make a bet with you, Blue. Five bucks says she'll end up with Luke."

"You're on." The two boys shake hands on it, which made the girls laugh in amusement.

After they were done with their slushies, they threw them away and went back into the mall.

Jubilee announces, "Alright, we got at least three hours to kill before the movie. Where should go now?"

"Vhat's zhat?" Kurt asks as he walks into small store.

"Kurt, don't take off." Jubilee attempts to stop him.

Harley then tells her, "Don't worry, Jubes. I'll keep up with him." She follows him into the store, but behind her, Scott was secretly making kissy faces at them.

"So many zhings." Kurt smiles at everything in the store from t-shirts to rock band poster.

"They don't have malls in Germany?" Harley Jeknovorian asks him.

"It's not zhat zhey didn't. Zhis is actually zhe first time I've been on my own."

Both of them start looking through all the stuff they found. "How did Mystique find you?" Harley asks.

Kurt begins to tell her the story of his life. "I vas at zhe circus vhere I grew up. Zhe men knew vhat I could do. Zhey kidnapped me and blindfolded me. Next zhing I knew, I vas in a coffin both locks on zhem. I didn't vhere I vas. I felt zhe coffin moving and a man yelling on a microphone about me."

Curious about this, Harley questions him, "What did he say?"

"Zhat I vas zhe next opponent and I look like zhe Devil himself. Zhey shouted my stage name from zhe circus, Nightcrawler. I fell out of zhe box and I vas in a cage vith a man vith wings. I couldn't get out because of zhe electric fence and zhe Angel told me zhat I had to fight him or ve vill both be killed. After zhat, zhe cage broke open and I vas able to escape. Mystique helped me out and now I am here."

His story broke her heart while they look at all the t-shirts. "That is sad." She murmured. "You could've died."

"I made zhe Angel very mad because I burnt his wing," he added. "He looked he vas going to kill me, but I didn't mean to damage his wing."

"Hey, he got what he deserved." Harley points out to him. "So did those people who called you the Devil. Are you Catholic, Kurt?"

He turns to his feline-looking friend. "Yes, I am. Lots of people assumed I'm a demon or a satan worshipper, but I do believe in God."

"At least, you believe in something."

It came to him that he has told Harley so much about himself, but he hasn't heard anything about her. "How long have you been going to the school?" He hesitantly asked her.

"About four months." The girl simply answered. "Some of us are regular students, but the rest of us are runaways."

"Harley, did you run away from home?"

No one really knew the truth about Harley when she first came to the school. Though she hated opening up to people, she actually felt like she could tell Kurt anything. "Yes, I did. It was . . . just . . . my mom wasn't exactly thrilled or accepting when she found out. I took off and slept at a homeless shelter for five days. It was scary until Dr. McCoy found me and took me to the mansion."

"Does your family know vhere you are?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so." Harley tells him. "I know they might be worried, but I told the Professor that I wasn't ready to see them yet."

She looks down at her feet in sadness. Her friends places a hand on her shoulder and mumbles, "I am sorry."

Not wanting him to feel sorry for her, Harley quickly changes the subject. "Um . . . so, Kurt, you know what cassette tapes are?" She shows him the cassette player on the table with some headphones.

"I've heard of zhem."

"Well, they play music. Here, put these on."

So he puts the earphones on, and she turns on the music. At that moment, Kurt's jaw dropped. "Vhoa, I hear zhe music in my head!" He gasped.

"Lucky you. I can't exactly wear them anymore." She points to her cat ear on top of her head, which made him laugh.

When Kurt takes off the earphones, two boys walked into the store. Both of them looked preppy school boys with their shoulder-padded blazers and slicked-back hair. One was blonde with a black blazer, and the other was a redhead with bright colors on.

"What the hell is that thing?" One of them whispers to the other.

Unfortunately, Harley and Kurt were able to hear them. They knew that those boys were talking about them since they were the only things out of place in the store.

"Harley, ignore zhem." Kurt tells her. "People do zhat to me all zhe time."

She looks up at him and says, "They talking about both of us."

The blonde snickers, "Someone call the circus. They're missing a couple of their freaks."

As they both start laughing, Harley wasn't happy. She turns to them and calls out to them, "Hey! You got something to say?"

Now that she had their attention, the redhead boy walks towards her and mocks her, "Yeah, what are these?" He attempts to poke at her cat ears.

Harley quickly pushes his hand away before he could touch her ears. "Hey, don't touch me."

"Are those your ears?" He asked. "Steve, look. She's a mutant."

"Ugh!" The blonde called Steve gags. "Freak!"

"What did you just call me?" Harley demanded as her hands curled up into fists on her sides.

"I wasn't talking to you, Sweetheart. I'm talking about your boyfriend, the life-size Smurf." She knew that he was talking about Kurt. At least, Harley was a little happy he called Kurt her boyfriend, but she was pissed off by the Smurf part. "Isn't it bestiality a sin?"

Before Harley could say anything, Kurt decides to stand up for himself. "I am no beast. I am a person just like you and everyone else here."

"Look at you, you're no person." The redhead harshly tells him. "You should be experimented on or sent back to the jungle where you belong."

All of the insults made Harley's blood boil. "Say one more thing and I'll kick you in the balls," she warns him.

"Harley, don't." Kurt stops her.

Steve starts laughing his ass off. "Oh, so cute! You're little girlfriend's defending you. Did you pick him up from the zoo or the circus?"

"I'm guessing you don't have a girlfriend considering that you're a stuck-up asshole." Harley insults him, feeling the rush of adrenaline in her.

"What'd you say?"

"I'd go out with him before I ever go out with a dick like you."

"Hey, that's enough!" The cashier at the register hollers at them. "You boys get out or I'll call security."

The four teenagers stand there in silence until the redhead whispers to Harley, "You're lucky."

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Harley smirks as the two boys headed out the door.

Kurt stood there, amazed by Harley's courage. "Harley, you didn't have to do zhat."

"Yes, I did." She says. "No one should treat anybody badly, mutant or not."

He smiles at her. "Thank you, Harley."

"You're welcome, Kurt."

Soon they both walked around the mall more. Kurt was continuously amazed by everything the mall had to offer to them. Harley was studied the looks people were giving them. A few people were making faces and whispering to one another that they were the ugly mutants or they looked like monsters. The one thing that hurt her was on the escalator, she and Kurt were right behind a woman and her little boy. When the woman looked up at them, she pulled her son in front of her away from them.

On the other hand, some people were actually speechless by them. She heard one girl whispering to her friend, "They're so cute together!"

"Vhat's that?" Kurt asked as he walks into Payless. "So many shoes."

Harley follows him in and stands next to him. "Yeah, what size are you, K—" She stops talking once she looks down at his large, two-toed feet. "Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to insult you, Kurt."

"No, it is okay." He quickly assured her as they walk out. "Harley, I vas born this way, and my appearance does not matter to me."

"I know. It's just that it wasn't easy for me. My eyes were fine, but my ears . . . I'm glad I didn't grow whiskers either."

Out of the blue, Kurt Wagner starts giggling. "Or a tail! Don't tell me you're afraid of water too!"

"I actually am." Harley says with a serious tone of voice. "No, I'm totally kidding. But yeah, some people do refer to me as a cat."

"You do look like a cat, but in a good way."

In a good way, Harley thought. She'd never expected someone to actually like the way she looks. "I get called Whiskers, Kitty Cat, and Pussycat all the time. At least, your name in the circus us cool. Nightcrawler. Why they call you that?"

"I blend in vith darkness and shadows." He explains to her. "It vas either Nightcrawler, Shadowmist, or Zhe Blue Monkey."

The last two words made her laugh. "Well, Nightcrawler is a pretty cool name. I wish I had a nickname like that."

"It depends on vhat you can do." He studies her and tries to think of a name for her. Kurt didn't want to make a name that would hurt her feelings so he attempted to point out things. "You look like a cat so something vith a cat. Also, you can copy powers—Zhat's it!"

"What?" Harley was confused by his realization.

"Copycat!" He shrieks. "Zhat should be your name."

"Copycat? Copycat." She repeated. "You think it suits me?"

Kurt decided to make something funny out of it. "Let me zhink." He hops on top of the mall fountain. "Zhe girl vith zhe power to detect and copy anybody's power. She may look like a kitten, but she's got claws. Zhe one ... Zhe only... Zhe infamous Copycat!"

His funny announcement made her laugh until her sides hurt. "With an introduction like that, I'll be bigger than the Beatles!"

"Do you really like it?" He asks as he hops off the fountain.

"I love it. Plus, if your stage name wasn't Nightcrawler, I may have guessed it was Blueberry."

Nightcrawler laughs at the little nickname. "Blueberry? Zhat's a first, but very catchy. I like zhat too."

"Alright, Blueberry. Where else you wanna go?"

"There you guys are." A voice startles them. Behind them was Jubilee, Scott, and Jean. "I was afraid we lost you." Jean says.

"Could've sworn you were making out," Scott smirks as he folds his arms.

The remark made Harley quickly reply, "You wish."

"The movie starts in half an hour so we thought to get tickets now," Jubilee tells them.

"Yeah, we should." Harley "Let's go."

She knew that she was gonna get some cute girly crap from Jubilee and a hint of attraction from Jean's mind-reading. The close friendship between Harley and Kurt was gonna be endless sexual innuendos from Scott and probably threateningly towards him.

"Vait! Harley, look at this!" Kurt Wagner points to the dancers in the middle of the mall.

All of them stood there watching the guys dance with a few people gathered around them. Each were impressed by the two men's dancing abilities.

Suddenly, Kurt decides to join the dance. "Kurt, what are you—Wow." Harley gasped.

To her surprise, Kurt was a great dancer. He was doing the robot, which earned him a few more people gathering around him.

Everybody was enjoying Kurt's dance, especially his friends. "Go, Kurt!" Jean cheers as Scott whistles.

At the end of the song, Kurt does the most incredible thing—he was able to spin on his tail. The whole crowd applauded for him as he joins his friends.

"That was incredible," Jubilee says. "Kurt, I didn't know you can dance."

"It's not zhat different from my act in zhe circus." He tells them.

Finally, the gang was able to make it to the movies on time. They were blown away by the escape from Jabba the Hut, and Scott was basically drooling over Princess Leia's slave outfit. Jubilee couldn't get over how cute the Ewoks were, and Jean had the idea that maybe she was a Jedi. During one scene of the film when Luke realizes that Leia was his sister, all of them say there in shock.

"Leia's his sister," Jean whispered. "But she kissed him!"

"He didn't know," Harley whispers back.

Towards the end, where Darth Vader was dying, a tear rolls down Harley's face. Kurt saw it and carefully held on her hand on the arm of the chair. It was wonderful at the end as the Ewoks and the Rebellion celebrated the end of the Darth Vader.

After the movie was over, Scott and Jubilee were arguing over, which was the best Star Wars movie.

"I'm just saying, "The Empire" is still the best." Jubilee said. "It's the most complex, the most sophisticated, wasn't afraid to have a dark ending."

"Yeah, but come on." Scott Summers disagrees with her. "If it wasn't for the first one you wouldn't have any of the rest of the movies."

Jean then added, "Well, at least we can all agree the third one is always the worst."

Soon they decided that it was time to head back home. Kurt sat in the front, while the girls were the back.

On the road, Scott decides to turn on the radio. "What's on the radio?" He mumbles to himself.

He then stops on the local news station. _"In a small town in Poland, the police have discovered a wanted man, Erik Lensherr also known as Magneto, the mutant with the ability to control metal. For the past ten years, Lensherr has been living in Poland under the alias Henryk Gurzsky. Lensherr was married to Magda Gurzsky and had a daughter name Nina. At the factory, where he worked, workers witnessed he using his powers to a man from nearly death. Unfortunately, his identity was given away and police attempted to arrest him. Outside of his home, authorities discovered several police officers dead with cuts straight through their necks, along with the bodies of Lensherr's wife and daughter."_

"Oh, my god." Jean says under her breath.

Kurt asks, "You zhink he could've killed zhem?"

It didn't sound like he would kill his own wife and child. "Why would he?" Harley shrugs her shoulders. "That was his family."

To change the subject, Scott switches the station to another. The song Come On Eileen was playing. All five of them start singing, even though they didn't know the words. They were laughing and singing as they were pulling up to the school.

Out of the blue, a large explosion startles them. It sounded like bomb went off nearby them.

No, it wasn't a bomb.

It was the school.


	4. Mission Impossible

The school was no longer there. It was nothing but damaged pieces and ashes. For one thing, everybody was outside and away from harm. All the kids and teachers were safe.

Scott parks and got out of the car. "What happened?" Scott demanded. "Where's Alex? Where's my brother?"

"I'm pretty sure I got everybody." The boy with silver hair told him.

As Jean, Kurt, Jubilee, and Harley got out of the car, they stood behind Scott. Dr. McCoy takes a step closer and sadly sighs, "Alex was closest to the blast."

At the moment, Scott takes off to the damaged house. Jean runs after him as well as Harley and Kurt. Everything was burnt to the ground. The smell of smoke was suffocating to them, but they ignored it as they ran through.

Once Scott stops, he realizes that he was at the spot where his brother was. There was no sign of Alex anywhere.

"Alex." He breathes his name.

His friends came to a halt behind him. Scott removes his glasses, but keeps his eyes shut. Jean gasps with her hand over her mouth as Scott drops to his knees in sorrow.

Harley quickly kneels down next to Scott and embraces him in her arms. "Scott, I'm sorry," she whispers to him. "I am so sorry."

"No, he can't be gone." He whimpers as he hugs her back. Scott rests his head on her shoulder and Jean walks over to place her hand on his back. "He can't."

None of them knew what to do at that point. The house was gone, Alex was dead, and the professor was nowhere in sight. If only they hadn't left the house, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. All four of the kids had themselves to blame for this.

All of a sudden, the sound of helicopters startled them. One of them was speaking over a siren, "Please remain calm!"

"Scott," Jean said. The mutant pulls away from Harley and puts his glasses back on.

 _"Medical assistance is on the way. Please remain calm."_

The four retreated behind a piece of wall in the burnt house. They crouched down behind it, but still peeked over to see what was happening.

"Guys, something's wrong." Jean told her friends. "They're not here to assist us."

When the helicopters landed, Harley noticed that the helicopters were still on as the men came out.

"Hey!" The lady in the suit shouts out to them over the loudness. "Moira MacTaggert, CIA! Thank God you're here!"

One man who stepped out from the front of copter must've been the boss. He removes his sunglasses and kept walking.

"WAIT!" Someone screams.

"Fire!" The boss commanded.

Suddenly, a large sound waves projects from one of their weapons and everybody faints at the same time, including Dr. McCoy, Jubilee, and all the students.

"No!" Harley was about to run after them, but Kurt kept her down.

"Harley, don't." He tells her. "You'll make it worse."

Scott whispers, "Who is that?"

The boss then commands his soldiers. "I want her! Him! Him! And her!"

"Yes, sir." One of them says.

"Leave the kids!"

"Fuckin' bastard," Harley mumbles.

"Vhat do ve do?" Kurt asked, afraid of what they will do to them.

"Keep quiet." Jean calmly tells them.

A soldier was walking towards them and each of them kept as quiet as possible. Jean carefully puts her telepathic power to use. The man looks around the wreckage and then looks down at them. Instead of seeing them, he just saw nothing.

In a split second, he turns to the other soldiers and shouts, "Clear!"

Once he was gone, Jean stops the illusion and they all breathe. "Thanks, Jean," Scott says to her. "We got to help them. Kurt, can you get us in that thing?"

"You vant to get in zhere?" Kurt quietly shrieks. "Vhat if zhe soldiers see us?"

"Don't worry," Jean assures him. "They won't see us, trust me."

Harley puts her hand on Kurt's shoulder and murmurs, "They need us."

What they were about to do will involve danger and everything that goes against what Kurt believed in. But there was no time to waste. "Hold on," the blue guy says.

Scott and Jean grabs onto his hand while Harley places her hand on his shoulder. At that moment, Kurt Wagner teleported himself and his friends into the helicopter.

Inside of the helicopter were the unconscious bodies of Dr. McCoy, Moira MacTaggert, Raven, and Peter. Unexpectedly, the doors to the helicopter close and a green light around the windows turn on.

"Kurt, get us all out of here!" Scott commanded.

The four grabbed onto Kurt and waited to be transported out of the helicopter, but nothing was happening.

"I can't!" Kurt panted as he lets go of his friends. "Vhen zhey closed zhe doors, zhere's some kind of electric field. It's like Berlin all over."

Harley leans closer to Kurt as the copter begins to take off. "Jean, get into the pilots heads," Scott tells her. "Don't let them take off!"

The telepath quickly nods her head. "I can't. I can't reach the pilots. I can't reach anyone"

Looking for a solution, Scott looks over at his cat-looking friend. "Harley?"

It was dumb to ask her, according to Harley. If Jean and Kurt's powers won't work, it wouldn't make a difference if Harley used them. "I have your powers, Scott." She reminds him. "We can't use it. It'll destroy the plane and kill all of us."

"We gotta do something," Scott mumbles.

"Lets just wait here and see where they're taking us." Jean suggested, not knowing what else they can do. "It's the best thing we can do right now."

One thing that was bothering Harley. When the electric field surrounded them, it was somehow blocking Jean's power of telepathy from the pilots and wouldn't allow Kurt to teleport. "How is this possible?" She asked her friends. "This electric field is somehow blocking our powers."

"You're right, Harley." Scott agrees with her. "It's like these guys know stuff about mutants."

"Vhere was zhe Professor?" Kurt mentions to them. "He vasn't zhere vith everyone else."

Jean Grey concentrates on the minds of Raven and Hank. "Someone took him." She said. "They were trying to get Magneto to come back, but he was with someone else. He and his group came and took the professor. Alex tried to stop them, but he ended up blasting his powers at Dr. McCoy's lab, which made the whole school explode. He didn't make it."

After listening to what happened, Scott's heart dropped onto his stomach. His eyes began watering, but his glasses were blocking them.

"This is all my fault." His voice broke as he hides his face in his hands.

During the ride, the group sat there in silence. None of them knew what to do at that point. Emotions had overwhelmed all of them. On the inside, they felt anger, sadness, fear, and guilt. They blamed their own selves for this, but they mostly blamed the people who had kidnapped the Professor.

"Dear Father." Kurt Wagner quietly prays. "Hold me in the light of God."

"It should have been me," Scott breathes as tears ran down his face. "He was the one who's going to do something with his life. He was always the one."

Jean gazes at him and tells him, "That's not how he felt. He felt you were the one who's going to do something special with your life. That you're going to make a difference in the world. Maybe even change it."

"How did you know what he felt?"

"I know what everybody feels." The redhead then takes his hand in her hand.

Kurt continues his prayer. "Hold me in the light of God. Protect me from danger. Save me by your command. Listen to my prayer. And keep me safe."

Harley never expected this to happen. For the first time, she felt responsible for this as well. She then blurts out, "We need to find the guys who took the Professor. Whoever did this won't know what's coming."

"You vish to fight zhis person," the teleporter asked her.

"Yes, I do." Harley proudly vows. "This guy can destroy the mansion and leave us homeless, but when it comes to hurting the people that mean the most to us, then that's where he crosses the line."

Her friends stare at her in amazement. "So what do we do?" Jean asked.

"We're gonna get out of here and find the professor," Scott interrupted, with the answer that Harley would've said. "I'm not gonna let Alex die for nothing. You guys with me?"

It's not like they hadn't any choice. The three nodded and agreed to join. "Okay, guys," Scott begins to think of a plan. "If Jean can't make us invisible to them, we might have to fight."

"Fight?" Kurt's voice went up.

"Yes, we're the only ones who can save them." Scott tells them. "We use our powers, okay."

In the X-Mansion, the professor had one rule: never use your powers against someone unless it was necessary. Jean knew this very well, especially since her power were unlimited. "I don't know if I can," she mumbles.

"Jean, they need us." Scott tries to coax with her. "You have to trust me on this."

The redhead sighs, "Alright."

"Here's the plan. We stay together no matter what. Kurt, how far can you teleport?"

"As far as I can see or if I've been zhere before," Kurt explains to him. "I can't teleport no more zhan three people. It's harder to do it vith more."

"Kurt, you're the escape plan. You get us out of anywhere we need, alright?"

Kurt nodded his head. "Okay."

Then, Scott turns to the telepath. "Jean, you keep us invisible from them. If you can't do it in time, you're gonna have to use your telekinesis. These guys will have guns. You think you can block bullets?"

"I think I can," she answers.

Next was Harley, who had never been more terrified in her life. Scott knew that Harley didn't exactly have combat powers, but she can have any of their powers. "Harley, copy our powers if you need to."

"Okay, but it's hard to copy powers," she informs him.

Her friend shakes his head. "What do you mean? You copied mine."

"I know, but some powers are hard to copy. Like Jean's powers, I can only copy her telekinesis, but not her full-on telepathic powers. That and I can have powers for a short time. It just depends on the powers."

"Then, you're our backup." He assigned her to her extra job. "If these guys aren't armed, take them out."

"Take them out?" She shrieks.

Scott was now getting frustrated. "Yeah, you're gonna have to. It's called self-defense. It's simple. Punch, kick, and knock them out. If they try to hurt you, hurt them back."

Never before has Harley been in a situation like this. She didn't know how each of her friends were so calm, but she knew that they needed her. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Vhat's happening to zhe doctor?" Kurt points to Hank on the floor.

The four gazes at the man as he begins turning blue. His blue fur grew all over his body and his feet break open his shoes.

"His pills are done," Jean says. "Dr. McCoy takes these pills to stop his mutation for awhile. That's what he really looks like."

The pills are what always bothered Harley. How can someone want cure himself of something they can't avoid? "You know . . . sometimes I think it's selfish of him to do that," Harley admits to her friend. "He knows that I hate my ears as it is."

Neither Scott or Jean could understand what Harley went through. Their parents were not deeply disgusted by their mutation, and they didn't run away from home. Only Kurt understood her physical problem. "Zhere's nothing vrong vith you," he tells her.

His words made her heart skip a beat. It was easy for Kurt to accept himself, but Harley was still struggling.

Suddenly, a noise interrupts Harley's train of thought. "Do you hear that?" She asked.

"Sounds like we're landing," Scott murmured.

It was time for them to get out and find the others. Needing one of their powers, Harley turns to Kurt and asks, "Kurt, can you give me your hand?"

"For vhat?" He asked, confused by this gesture.

"For your powers."

Now that he knew what she meant, Kurt grabs hold of his friend's hand, giving her permission to replicate his abilities.

As the helicopter makes it way into a secret facility, Harley slowly concentrates on copying Kurt's power. For some reason, copying his powers was strange for her. She felt a funny sensation throughout her body that starts to turn painful.

"Harley?" Kurt says her name as she squints her eyes in pain.

Instead of being prepared for their fight, Jean and Scott look at Harley, witness her transformation as a replicated Nightcrawler. When the pain stopped, Harley opens her eyes and lets go of Kurt.

"You are blue just like me!" Kurt gasps as he stares at Harley.

The copycat realizes that not only did she copying Kurt's teleportation, but she copied his physical mutation. Her skin was now indigo and her elf ears were on the side of her head. She had a tail that lifted her skirt up a little, three fingers, and two toes. Harley was an exact replica of Kurt.

"I thought you copy powers," Jean mentions to her.

It was shocking, even for Harley. "I thought so too," she said.

Finally, the helicopter landed. The electric field gets turned off and the four stay put. First, the guard opened the door and Jean makes herself and her friends invisible to them.

Once they were gone, Jean stops with the illusion. Kurt teleports the three out of the helicopter and into the hall of the base.

"What is this place?" Scott asked, wondering where they were.

"Some things have happened here." Jean said. A guard was coming around the corner and the three kept still as Jean uses her telepathy. "Okay, we're good."

When they turned the corner, another guard was there and actually saw them.

"Hey," the guard nearly hollers.

Without hesitation, Harley knocks the gun out of his hands with her arm. She kicks him in the stomach and in the face.

As the guard falls unconscious, her friends stood there staring at her in amazement. The first one to speak was Kurt, but he blurts out, "Zhat vas hot."

"What?" Jean asked.

"Nothing."

Forgetting what he said, Harley was as shocked as well. She had never hit a person in her not knock them unconscious. "Oh, my god," she gasps. "That was intense. Was that okay?"

Scott shrugs his shoulders and stutters, "I-It was . . . okay . . . for a girl."

His comment made Jean frowned. "You kidding me? That was pretty good for Rocky. Good job, Harles."

The four hurried through the halls trying to find the others. Jean was looking for their minds as Harley kept in front of them, vowing to defend them at all costs.

"There." Jean Grey points to a large door that was sealed shut.

"Kurt, can you get in there?" Scott asked him.

While Kurt tries to get through the door, Harley and Jean stand guard of the boys. Jean casts illusions of invisibility and Harley holds up her fists just in case.

"What's taking so long?" Scott questions the blue mutant.

"I can't get in." Kurt tells him. "It has a field around it like zhe helicopter."

The boy with glasses sighs, "There's got to be a way to cut the power."

Harley snaps her fingers as an idea pops into her head. "Every electric field has a generator somewhere. If we shut down the generator, then Kurt can get inside."

"Do you know how to shut it down?"

"Yeah, I can."

And so the kids leave the door to look for a generator. Instead of the generator, the four found a large bunker filled with jets and helicopters. All of them hide to the sides as a few guards pass by them.

"Guys, that could be our way out of here," Scott informs them, pointing to the jet.

Kurt nodded his head in doubt. "None of us can fly a plane."

"Dr. McCoy can," Jean mentioned.

"If all goes as planned, we'll be out of here in no time." Harley points out to them.

 _"Hear me, inhabitants of this world."_ A voice startles Harley. She didn't know where it came from, but there was nobody here but them.

"What is this?" Scott asked. He could hear it too as well as Jean and Kurt.

 _"This is a message."_

It suddenly hit Jean. "I think it's the Professor."

 _"A message to every man, woman and mutant. You have lost your way. But I have returned. The day of reckoning, it is here. All your buildings and temples . . . will fall. The dawn of a new era will emerge. For there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming. This message is for one reason alone. To tell the strongest among you . . . those with the greatest power . . . protect those without."_

At last, the message stops. The four teenagers stood there in silence, wondering what had happened.

"Professor?" Harley says under her breath.

So many questions ran through her mind. Why would Professor tell her this? Was he warning her about something? How come he didn't say where he was? How was he doing this without Cerebro?

"He just spoke to me," Jean tells her friends.

More questions popped into Harley's head. Was Professor speaking to all of them?

"I think he spoke to everyone." Scott points out

"I can hear him too." Kurt added.

"No, no, he just sent me a hidden message." Jean corrected them. "One he knew only I would hear. I know where they are."

Before anything else could happen, a voice yells, "Hey!"

At the end of the hall was a guard. He quickly pulls out his gun and aims at Jean first. Kurt quickly teleports her out of there.

"Harley!" Scott calls out her name.

She easily grabbed hold of Scott and teleports them. They found themselves in another hallway of the base. Across from them was Kurt and Jean, who were both unharmed.

"You guys alright?" Jean asked. Both of them nodded their heads.

"Thanks, Harley." Scott says to her.

"You're welcome." She responds to him.

Kurt turns to the redhead and asked, "Jean, vhat did zhe Professor tell you?"

"He said that he's in Cairo," she informs them. "Someone has him. I don't know how he spoke to all of us without Cerebro."

Scott raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Who's Cerebro?"

"Cerebro's this machine at the school," Harley explains to them. "Professor uses it to read the minds of anyone around the world."

"Vasn't it destroyed in the explosion?" Kurt asked.

"Exactly." Jean points

It didn't make any sense to any of them. Harley knew what kind of powers Charles Xavier had, but he couldn't do this. "Professor couldn't be able to do that, but it's like somehow his powers were enhanced."

"How can that happen?" Scott Summers asked.

"By something or someone."

Jean looks at the corners of the hall. "Let's go."

"They got cameras everywhere," Harley brought up to her friends' attention. "No doubt they're already looking for us."

Finally, the group finds a room with what looks to be an electrical generator. "The generator." Scott says as they all stare. "It's worth a shot. Kurt?"

In a matter of seconds, Kurt teleports the three into the room. Inside was the generator on the walls along with shelves stocked with medical supplies. From their point of view, it had looked like they experimented on something in there.

"How does this thing work?" Scott asked as they walked toward the generator.

Out of the blue, a low growl caught Harley's attention. She turns to her right and notices a large metal box. It came to her that the growl was coming from the cage.

"Guys?" She says aloud. "We're not alone in here."

"Vhat?" Kurt responded.

Harley Jeknovorian slowly points to the cage and looses her breath as the snarling grew louder. Her and her friends gaze at the cage, that was sealed shut with no way of seeing what was inside.

"There's some kind of animal in there," Scott murmurs.

"It's no animal," Jean reveals to them while reaching out to the mind of the snarling creature. "It's a man."

None of them believed what she said, but Jean was certain of it. What they were listening to sounded nothing like a man. "No, it can't be." Harley denies. "Sounds like a lion or a bear. Maybe a really big dog."

"Who is he?" Kurt Wagner asked.

"A part of himself has been taken away," Jean explains to them.

Confused by this, Scott asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they turned him into...some kind of weapon."

During the quiet moment, Harley carefully walks towards the cage and studies it. Suddenly, one of her visions came to her.

It was strange. Her visions only told the powers of a mutant. She saw an unfamiliar man who looked like a bodybuilder. What she saw were numerous flashes of certain things. He was running through the woods as fast as a leopard. Then, bone claws came out of his knuckles. A bullet was shot into his bare chest, but instead of falling and bleeding, the bullet fell off his skin and full regenerated. Another vision was of him walking down the streets of a western-looking town square. His clothes were changing and so were the town square as if time was going by fast, except he was still the same in age.

Finally, Harley Jeknovorian returns back to reality. She then realizes that the man she saw the visions of was the man in the cage.

"He's a mutant." She blurts out.

"Vhat kind of powers does he have?" Kurt asked her.

Everything about the mutant surprised her. Harley had never seen anyone like him. "He's really unique. I'm seeing bone claws coming out of his knuckles. They're each a foot long. His strength, speed, and senses are enhanced to where he's like an animal. He can't die. Nothing can hurt him. I'm gonna get his powers."

Kurt quickly stops her and shrieks, "Harley, are you crazy? Don't you know zhe point of a lock? Itz to make sure whoever is on one side doesn't get to zhe other side!"

"Relax, Kurt. I'm not gonna open it."

"You can't copy powers without touching someone," Jean points out to her.

Harley knew this, but she knew that maybe she didn't have to touch people. "Yes, I can. Professor's been working with me on this. I can reach his powers without touching him. I just need to concentrate."

"Harley, you are not gonna copy its powers," Scott tells her.

"He's not a thing, Scott." Harley begins to argue with him.

"Well, that sure as hell doesn't sound like a guy in there. You wanna be like him? Is that what you want?"

"I can do this. You have to trust me on this. Someone has to stop—"

Scott raises his voice. "You don't know what the hell is in there!"

Suddenly, the doors opened. Instantly, Kurt grabs his friends and teleports them to the side of the cage.

"Charlie 3, report," one of the guards said. "Did you find them?"

With the guards in the room, there was no way for either of them to get to the generator. "How are we gonna get to the generator?" Scott whispers.

"I got it," Jean replies.

The redhead puts her telekinesis to use and does something unexpected. It was the sound of the cage door creaking open and slow footsteps startling them

"Fire!" Guns started firing at the monster emerging from the cage.

Harley hides in Kurt's arms as they listened to the mutant let out a roar as he was getting shot at. Not only did they hear gunshots, but the sounds of men screaming and ripping of skin scared them the most.

Finally, the screamings stopped. Harley backs away from her blue friend and whispers, "Is he gone?"

Jean was first to step out and check. "Yeah, we're good."

As the coast was clear, Harley Jeknovorian rushes over to the generator. She quickly turns off the electric field by a few switches and buttons.

They gaze horrifically at the guards who were on the floor dead. Each of them were covered in their blood with stab wounds and large cuts.

"Are you sure he's not an animal?" Scott comments.

These men didn't deserve it, Harley thought. She had never seen anyone be killed right next to her. She had never agreed to letting people die on their mission, even if they were the enemy. "What were you thinking, Jean?" She blurts out to the telepath. "You just released a monster."

"What choice did I have, Harley?" Jean tells her.

"I was copying his power. I just needed more time."

"And by the time you do copy, we would all be dead."

It made her angry that Jean would be so impatient with her. Harley thought that it wasn't fair that Jean was to do everything on their mission. "It's better for me to have his powers than to let him out of his box, Jean. He could kill us or kill Dr. McCoy and the others."

"I'll make sure he won't touch us."

"Guys!" Kurt tries to interrupt, but the girls kept bickering.

Harley raises her voice. "What are going to do, your little mind tricks?"

"It's better than what you do," the redhead insults her.

"Guys, that's enough!" Scott snaps at the girls. "Just stop it!"

After a moment of silence, Kurt finally says, "Ve have to find zhe others. Come on."

He grabs hold of his friends and teleports them out of the room. When they were in another hallway, Harley was not with them.

"What?" Scott shrieks. "Where's Harley?"

Harley finds herself in a hallway of the facility. Jean, Kurt, and Scott were nowhere to found. "Guys?" She says aloud.

Unexpectedly, the sounds of gunshots startled her. When the screaming and gunfire stop, Harley turns to the end of the hall and saw him.

The man from the cage.

He stares at her intensely as she stood there frozen. Instead of the bone claws she saw in her vision, they were longer and appeared to be metal. Harley looses her breath as he snarls and begins jogging towards her.

"Dude, I'm not gonna hurt you." She tried to calm him down, but didn't move. Unfortunately, he didn't stop. Harley closes her eyes and screams.


	5. Pep Talk

Before he could touch her, Harley disappears into smoke and reappears at the other end of the hallway. _I teleported_ , she thought. _I have Kurt's powers!_

The monster was still there and he was furious. "Oh, shit!" Harley hollers as she starts running. "Leave me alone!"

Thanks to Kurt's powers, Harley was able to run a bit faster than she usually does, but the mutant was still chasing after her. Her heart was beating fast and she tried to teleport, but she didn't know how to control it.

"I'm gonna die," she panted as she ran. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna throw up first and then I'm gonna die!"

Once she was away from him, Harley ran into what looked like an exit. It was in a little room with brown rocks on the ceiling and a large metal door.

She quickly headed to the door and spins the huge knob. At that moment, something yanked on her tail and she was swept off her feet. Harley goes flying back and slams into the rock wall.

The cat-eared mutant collapses to the ground with a pain in her upper back and her left leg. She groans in agony for a moment and looks up to find the mutant again.

Tears ran down her eyes as he looks down on her. Her heart was accelerating every second as he growls and flashes his metal bone claws.

He lets out a roar and Harley screeches in fear. "Ahh!"

"Harley!" A familiar voice calls out her name.

She stopped screaming as a pair of arms wrapped around her. It was Kurt. He had ran just in time along with Scott and Jean.

Scott was ready to take off his sunshades and use his power on the creature, but Jean stops him. "Scott, wait!"

Everyone stood there in silence as well as the monster with the bone claws. Jean slowly walks towards him and attempts to remove his headgear, but he clutched her hand.

Kurt kept his arms around Harley as they watched the mutant allow Jean to take care off his head piece. They watched as the redhead places her hands on his head for a moment.

"Jean." Scott says, wondering what she was trying to do to him.

After she pulls away, the man carefully removed the equipment that was literally attached to him as he stares at Jean. Once he has everything off, he turns to look at the kids for a second. Then, he pushed the heavy metal door open and took off into the wood, wearing nothing but shorts.

"What did you do to him?" The boy with the glasses asked.

"I found a piece of his past and gave it back to him," the telepath explains to him. "Just a few memories I could reach."

Kurt turns to Harley and questions her, "Harley, are you alright?"

She was ashamed of what had happened. It was embarrassing for her to waste Kurt's incredible powers and run away from someone who was easy for Jean to handle. "I'm sorry," she whimpers as she hides her face in her hands. "I got lost and . . . I ran away from him. He chased me. I-I was so afraid of him. I'm sorry."

Each of them knew what she was feeling, but none of them want to say it out loud to embarrass her more. Scott then kneels down and places his hand. "No, no, you're good. Harley, you hear me? You're okay and that's all that matters."

She finally stops crying and wipes away her tears. Kurt helps her up on her feet and lets go of her.

"Is it just me or does that guy look familiar?" She asked, showing her quirky self again. "I feel all of us know him."

"No." Scott nodded his head.

"Not me," said Jean.

"I've never seen him in my life," Kurt added.

Scott raises an eyebrow and murmurs, "I hope that's the last we'd seen of that guy."

After a short moment of silence, Jean interrupts, "Come on, let's find the others."

The four head back inside of the base and ran through the halls that had several dead guards on the floor. It was the first time any of them had seen dead bodies covered in blood and murdered by the same guy.

"Kurt, get into the the booth and tell them to get away from the door." Scott Summers commanded him. And like that, Kurt disappears.

"What are you going to do?" Harley asked. Suddenly, her nightcrawler appearance begins to form back into her original. It wasn't as painful as before, but Harley still felt a little agony from the transformation.

Jean stares at the door for a second and turns to Scott. "They're away from it. Now, Scott."

Both her and Harley stood back as Scott stares at the door and removes his glasses. The powerful blasts from his eyes shot right through the door causing it to crumbling into pieces. Once there was a big enough hole, Scott places his glasses back on.

The first to step out was Mystique in her blonde and fair skin form. Behind her was the silver hair boy, the lady in the suit, and Dr. McCoy.

"We know where the Professor is," Jean tells her.

"I think we might have a way out of here," Scott added.

Raven the smirks, "Well, you've been busy."

As Harley bites down on her bottom lip, Scott stutters, "We had a . . . a little help."

"A little?" Harley shrieks.

"Let's go." Raven says.

Scott leads the group back to the airplane room. A black mist appears and Kurt teleports right in front of Scott nearly knocking him over.

"Watch out!" The boy with the glasses hollers. "Jesus!"

"Oh, sorry." Kurt quickly apologizes, but continues running.

Finally, they arrived in the large bunker full of jets and airplanes. They stood in amazement, gazing at one jet in particular. "Hey, Hank, do you think you can fly this thing?" Raven asked.

The man with the blue fur nodded. "Yeah, I can figure it out."

"Hey, guys," Scott interrupted them. All of them look back at Scott, who was in front of what looked like a closet full of black suits with armor on them. "Flight suits."

Raven gazes at them and turns to Hank. "You got your warplane. Let's go to war."

Everybody stood there in silence, knowing what they have to do. Unfortunately, Harley blurts out, "Is it too late to go to the bathroom?" They all stare at her with confused looks on their faces. "Sorry."

Hank walks over and begins grabbing a flight suit. "Kids, get those suits on," he tells them.

All of them get a suit to change into. "There's boots too," Harley points out to them. Since Hank and Kurt couldn't exactly wear shoes, there was plenty more for the rest. Harley was a little embarrassed as she had to get the boots in the very back. Wearing size 11 in shoes wasn't really easy for her, but neither was wearing her brother, Steven's shoes in eighth grade.

"Where do we change?" Jean asked.

"Girls use the plane, and guys, we stay out here." Hank instructs them.

Moira MacTaggert leads the women to the jet and presses a button on the side, which opens the door underneath. The girls walk into the jet and closes the door from the inside.

Soon they all began to undress and wear the matching flight suits. Harley was a bit confused by the uniform, not knowing where the zipper was or if she wasn't wearing it backwards.

She pushed her clothes to the side and zips the suit up to the neck. It felt strange wearing this suit, but Harley also felt that she was actually made to wear something like this. Even though her boobs were compressed in the suits and she thought her butt looked pretty big, Harley had this feeling that she was meant to be a soldier or protector of some sort.

Her wavy locks fell in front of her face as she tries to not sweat. "Anybody got a rubber band?" She asked.

"Here." Raven tosses a black rubber band to the young girl.

Harley catches it and begins to pull her thick hair back in a ponytail. "Thanks, Raven. So you're Professor's sister?"

"I'm not his sister," the blonde impassively tells her.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbles.

"How do you know where Charles is?" Raven asks Jean.

The redhead was pulling her hair out of her face with her clip. "He spoke to everyone and sent me a hidden message," she explains to her.

"You guys know about this Apocalypse guy?" The other woman questions them.

For one thing, Harley was curious about the monster who caused of all this. "Who is he? Okay, for starters, who are you?"

"Agent Moira MacTaggert, CIA." She introduces herself to the mutant.

"Nice to meet you." Harley kindly says to her.

"Okay, done?" Raven asked.

Jean stands up after zipping her boots. "Yeah, I think so."

Right then and there, Moira sits in the pilot seat and opens the door of the jet. The three other women look out the door to find the Hank and the boys dressed in the same uniforms as them.

"Wow," Scott says under his breath, staring at Jean.

"Killer," the boy with the silver hair murmurs.

"Wait, who are you?" Harley mentions.

The guy walks inside of the jet and holds out his hand for Harley to shake. "Peter Maximoff. Isn't it weird that were going on a mission and we don't even know each other? It's like we should at least make introductions first."

Fascinated by him, Harley shakes his hand. "I'm Harley, and this is Jean, Kurt, and Scott."

"Is everybody ready?" Hank asked as he and the boys got inside of the jet.

"Yeah, we are." Raven answers him. "Charles is in Cairo."

As Hank co-pilots along with Moira, Raven and the kids sat in the passengers seats. On one side, it was Raven, Scott, and Jean, and Peter, Harley, and Kurt on the other side.

The flight was going to be long so they sat there silently. Harley was already sweating through her suit while waiting for someone to speak. One thing that caught her attention was Scott constantly scratching his neck and arms.

"Problems, Scott?" Harley smirks as her friend was trying to adjust to his flight suit.

"This outfit really itches," Scott complains about his suit.

Harley raises an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? This barely fits on my chest."

Most of them started laughing, except for Raven. "Well, sorry, Harles, but they didn't have any spare sports bras," Jean comments.

"They should invest in that." Peter chuckles. "Women are in the military too, so they need to start giving us special treatment."

After the laughter stops, it became quiet again. Scott then asks, "So who are we fighting?"

Moira, who was flying the plane with Hank, answers, "This guy called Apocalypse. The world's first mutant and pure evil. He's got four people on his side and they're powerful too."

"Four people?" Peter questions them. "Apocalypse?"

"Zhe four horsemen of zhe apocalypse," Kurt Wagner says under his breath.

Hank turns to the girl with cat ears and asks, "Harley, can you identify their powers?"

It was impossible since Harley can only identify powers if she physically saw them. "I haven't seen them so I don't think I can."

"Here, Harley." Jean places her fingers on Harley's forehead. "Maybe this will work."

At that moment, Harley was blinded by so many flashes all at once. So many visions of powers were occurring at the same time that Harley sat there frozen staring into space. It was more than just seeing their powers. She could feel the strength and level of all their powers.

Finally, the girl snaps back into reality with all of the information she received. "Okay, Jean, thanks. Those five are powerful. Magneto can control metal telekinetically, but his powers are enhanced. He can control any metal around the world now."

"I should've known he would get to that point of his powers," Raven comments. "He lifted a submarine once and I thought that was just it."

Harley continues. "The lady-they call her Psylocke. Her thing is telekinetic weapons which she can create out of psionic energy. She can make a whip, a sword, a crossbow. Also, her agility is enhanced. Next is the angel. His wings are now made of metal and they're like knives. Not only his wings are his mutation, his senses are enhanced a lot."

"That's it?" Peter asks. "He just flies? That's the best they could come up with? A guy with wings?"

His expectations did bring up a good point. "What were you expecting, Peter?" Scott questions him. "An anorexic girl who can turn people to dust?"

"Sure." The fast boy shrugs his shoulders. "Anything other than a guy who just flies. That's just lame."

"And there's this girl-his first horseman. She has this ability to control weather. She can fly, blasts lightning, move clouds, and can even make the most powerful tornadoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis."

"Okay, that is intimidating right there," Peter points out. "I got chills hearing that."

"What about that Apocalypse guy?" Hank asks the girl.

"He's over thousands of years old. He has many powers. He can absorb knowledge, manipulate matter, telekinesis, telepathy, healing, super strength, enhance mutant powers, and teleportation. He thinks he's a god because of these powers."

"What does he want with Charles?" Raven asked her.

It seemed pretty useless that Raven would ask her that. Harley could only identify powers, not read people's minds. "I don't know. But this explains how Professor was able to communicate with everybody at the same time without Cerebro."

"So we know what we're up against."

Jean turns to the blonde with wide eyes. "Wait, you're expecting us to fight these people?" She shrieks.

"Yes, that's exactly what you guys are going to. You guys do know how to use your powers, right?"

All five of them nodded their heads. "Of course, but Professor taught me how to control them, not to kill people with them." Jean tells her.

She knew it was too good to be true. Raven figured that Charles would never train them to fight with their powers. "You've got to be kidding me," she groans.

"We go to a school, not a ninja academy," Scott added.

"This is great."

"Raven," Hank stops her. He didn't want to hear it from her of how these kids should have training. Honestly, he didn't even want to bring them, but there was no choice.

The jet was quiet again. Harley figured that some of them weren't going to make it. She wanted to get something off her chest by apologizing for her argument with her dearest friend. "I'm sorry, Jean. I'm sorry for being an asshole to you earlier about the whole mind trick thing."

Jean looks at her friend and says, "You're not an asshole, Harley."

"Yes, I am. I was mad because I was jealous."

The redhead shook her head, surprised by Harley's confession. "Jealous? You, Harley, were jealous?"

"Yeah, I was," she admits to her friend. "Some of the girls at school, especially Sydney and Chris were telling me that I don't have real powers. They were right . I lied when I said I didn't need to touch people for powers. But of course you know that already."

It was at that moment Harley realizes her biggest weakness: she wasn't really powerful after all. There she was surrounded by the most incredibly gifted mutants she has ever met and she was wasn't even one of them. "Harley, you have powers," Jean Grey tells her. "You copy powers, which is like a fair fight between you and your opponent. Also, it helps us better if we had another person with the same powers as us. Not only that, but you identify powers. You know our powers better than we ourselves do. What you have is a gift."

Harley didn't want to believe it, but everything she said was right. "Thanks, Jean."

"She's right," Raven agrees. "Both of our powers aren't exactly met for a battlefield, but that doesn't mean you're not powerful."

Their words glued to Harley's mind as she nodded her head. Never before did she think that anyone would believe in her like this.

"So, Peter, why are you here?" Scott asked the boy with the silver hair.

"Well I was looking for my father," Peter answered.

"Who's your father?"

"Magneto."

The four sat there with their eyes widen and their jaws dropped. "Vhat?!" Kurt Wagner shrieks.

"Really?" Jean asked.

"Everybody's surprised, aren't they?" Peter Maximoff smirks. "You didn't see that coming?""

Harley murmurs, "Not at all."

Moments later, none of them knew what to say. Jean looks over at Raven and nervously asks, "Were you scared? That day in DC, were you scared?"

The mysterious shapeshifter gives her a simple smile and tells her, "No. But I was scared on my first mission. I was on a plane like this with my friends. About your age. We called ourselves the X-Men. Your brother was there." She nods to Scott. "We used to call him Havok. He was a real handful, but . . . when it came down to it, he was very brave."

"Vhat happened to zhe rest of zhe kids zhat vent vith you?" Kurt questions her. "Zhe X-Men."

It made Harley excited to hear the stories of the X-Men. Though the world may never know about them, she considers them as legends.

"Hank and I are the only ones left." Raven admits to them. Her voice was broken as the kids loose their breath. "I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you, I'm not a hero."

Now that they knew the truth, none of them knew exactly what to say. It was Jean, who spoke up.

"Well, you're a hero to us. Seeing you that day on TV changed my life."

"Mine too," said Scott.

"Mine too," Kurt added.

Peter chuckles, "I mean, I still live in my mom's basement, but . . . everything else is . . . well, it's pretty much the same. I'm a total loser."

Most of them snickered at Peter's response, but Harley reminded the blue woman, "Raven, that's the point of being a hero, isn't it? You try to save as many people as you can, but that doesn't mean you give up."

"I never thought of it that way," Raven replies as those words opened her mind.

Harley decides to encourage her friends. "Guys, we're gonna fight these people and . . . I'm scared as hell. But I'm glad I'm here with you guys." Each of them smiled at her in amazement. For the first time, the kids felt that they were made for this, protecting the world with their extraordinary powers.

"Seventh wonder, 12 o'clock." Hank points out to them.

The six stare ahead at the window and are shocked of what they see. In front of them was a large luxurious pyramid made entirely of metal.

"Holy crap," Harley Jeknovorian says under her breath.

"He has the Professor in the center of the pyramid," Jean informs the team. "He's going to transfer his consciousness into the Professor. If he does that, he'll have the power to control every mind in the world."

Professor, Harley thought. It made sense to all of them to why Apocalypse kidnapped Charles. They figured he was unable to shut down Apocalypse and the horsemen, but now that they were here, Professor won't be alone in this war.

"Do we have time to get to them?" Harley asks her red-headed friend.

"Maybe a few minutes. I'll try to connect with Professor as long as I can, but if Apocalypse gets him, I can't pull him back."

"What the hell is that?" Moira demanded, pointing at the view in front of them.

Raven stood up and look at a familiar man who was floating in the air. The only clue of his identity is all the metal objects surrounding him. "It's Erik. You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid. Get Charles. I'll take care of Erik."

"How are you going to get through that?" Hank asks her.

A blur flew towards Raven and disappeared. It was Peter. "I can get you in there. I came here for him. Let me help you."

"The rest of you, get Charles on this plane and get him out of here," Raven commands the rest of them.

"Ve're not leaving vithout you!" Kurt says to them.

"Don't worry." Peter assures the blue mutant. "We'll catch up."

One thing confused Harley, but she was scared to say it aloud. Suddenly, she blurts out, "Why are you going after Erik? Isn't he the bad guy?"

Raven turns back to her and responds, "He's my friend and this isn't him."

"Shouldn't you help us fight him instead of reason with him?" Harley asked. To her, it was pretty much pointless to convince the infamous Magneto to become good.

"Look, you don't know him, okay." The blonde's tone became a bit harsh.

Not wanting to anger her, Harley finally decides to keep her mouth shut. Peter returns to his seat next to Kurt and Harley, anxious to stop his father.

"So, Peter, that's your old man, uh?" Harley asks.

"Yep, weird, right?" He replies.

"Well, he seems nice . . " Her voice went high, indicating that she was sarcastic. " . . . when he's not helping a god take over the world and kill all of us, but he seems nice. Also, he's pretty good-looking. Really good-looking. He's hot. Really hot. I think I'm in love."

As Copycat gets off topic, Peter interrupts her daydreaming, "Hey! That's my dad."

"What?" She raises her voice. "It's not like I'm gonna do anything with him. Sheesh!"

While the jet begins to land, Raven Darkholme commands the kids,"Okay, guys, you fight the other ones. Don't let them get near Nightcr-Kurt!" She knew that he preferred his first name over his stage name so she decided to use Kurt. "Keep Kurt protected so he can get to Charles. Use your powers and make them want to fight you. Don't hesitate."

Every one of them takes a deep breath as the jet lands on the ground.

"Moira, stay here and keep the plane on," Raven instructs the CIA agent. "All of you, let's go."

Scott shakes his head. "Wait, we're all going?"

"Yes, if these guys wanna fight, you fight. Show them no mercy. Don't let them get to Charles."

The first person to exit the jet was Raven and Hank gets out of the co-pilot seat to join her. The kids stand up, nervous of what would happen to them.

Hank looks back at the kids and ask, "You guys ready?"

"No." Jean blurts out.

"Not really," Harley added.

"I'm gonna throw up," Scott added.

He understood that they were not soldiers or real X-Men. They were just kids, but he knows that they were extraordinary in their own ways. "Guys, this is for the Professor."

"I've been at school for only two days," Scott informs him.

"I haven't even been zhere a day," Kurt added.

"I don't even go to that school," Peter reminds him.

Soon Jean realizes how ridiculous they were being, so she decided to step up and be the bigger man. "Guys, if we don't stop Apocalypse, the world ends," she proclaims. "We all die."

Harley and the boys exchanged looks with fear on their faces. It was time for them to stop being afraid of showing their true potential. "I'm totally up for this," Harley exclaims. "You guys?"

"Yeah, yeah." Scott murmurs.

"Okay, let's do this." Peter confidently says.

They follow Raven into the city. Everything surrounding them was horrifying. Burnt pieces were all over the ground. Buildings and homes were damaged into place. The scent of smoke and dirt was suffocating them.

Remembering that she was powerless at the moment, Harley stops the boy with silver hair. "Peter, wait. Give me your hand."

"What are you doing?" He asked, confused by her.

"I might need your speed." She grabs a hold of his forearm. "What, I didn't tell you? I copy powers."

Suddenly, Harley Jeknovorian felt a flow of energy enter her body. The energy spread through her fast and she felt her body becoming more stronger and durable.

"Holy crap," Peter commented.

Once she lets go, she smirks, "Yep, I'm as fast as you. Maybe faster."

"Don't kid yourself." He chuckles.

After their moment ended, Raven gives another order. "Hank, you go with the kids. Moira will be waiting on the plane."

"Wait!" Scott stops the mysterious blue mutant.

"What?"

"Not all of us can fully control our powers," he informs her.

Raven stands there and nodded. "Then, don't. You need to embrace them. We all do." At last, she transforms into her original blue form, impressing the kids and making Hank smile. "Peter, let's go."

Before they could take off, Harley calls out to her, "Raven, wait! Erik already made his choice. You can't save him, but you can save the Professor."

The woman gazes at the copycat and mumbles, "Harley, I can't."

"Yes, you can. You're his family. We came here for him. There's still a chance—"

She cuts her off. "I can't save Charles! I am not strong enough! Only you guys can save him."

Her words broke the hearts of all of them. Everyone knew her as the hero who inspires all mutants young and old to embrace who they are, but now she was weak. "He gave everything to you!" Harley cries out to her. "And this is what you give him?"

As a moment of silence passed, Mystique turns to Peter and says, "Let's go." The fast mutant lifts her up and takes off to find Erik.

Everything Harley thought about Mystique was a lie. She was right when she said she was no hero. The worst part was that Harley actually did believe there was still some hope in Raven.

"Nice try, Harley." Hank tells her. "She's just like that now. All Erik did was bring out the worst in her. Come on, guys."

The blue beast leads to the kids closer to the pyramid. All of them crouch behind some damaged pieces waiting to save the Professor. Hank gazes at the pyramid and says, "There's an entrance. It's clear."

Unexpectedly, Archangel comes flying towards them. "Guys!" Harley shouts, warning her friends.

"Kurt, get in there!" Hank commands him. The teleported disappears leaving behind his black smoke.

Angel stops in midair and realizes a few of his metal feathers at them. Instead of hitting them, Jean uses her telekinesis to shield them with broken blocks of concrete. Afterwards, Archangel flies into the pyramid and leaves them be.

Realizing that he was going after Kurt, Hank tells the kids, "In the pyramid. Move! Go!"

Harley ran first since she was now officially the fastest, but she knew she was not as fast as Peter. The others follow behind her as she ran to Kurt's aid.

Out of the blue, a large bolt of lightning struck to the ground, which made Harley fall on the ground. An African American girl with a white Mohawk travels through the lightning bolt and lands on the ground in front of them.

"Scott!" Hank hollers for him.

The teenager pushes Jean out of the way and takes off his sunglasses. He aims his vision at the girl who easily floats in the air.

She then starts swirling her hands in a circle and a tornado begins to surrounding them. Harley carefully gets up and Scott is unable to see the girl. The winds are so strong that cars were being lifted up.

Jean uses her telekinesis to obliterate the tornado and the girl with white hair is blinded by the dirt and flies lower to the ground. Taking this opportunity, the girl lifts a car with her powers and it goes flying towards Jean and Scott.

To avoid being hit, Harley runs with Peter's super speed and stops for a moment. Everything was suddenly frozen in place with only Harley moving. She soon realized that this is how fast Peter is. Harley Jeknovorian takes this chance and quickly guides the car over Jean and Scott. Then, she runs over to the weather girl and angrily punches and kicks her faster than the speed of sound. Finally, Harley pushes the girl on broken pieces of a building.

When she was in normal speed, the car flew over her friends and Hank successfully catches it with his bare hands. The blue mutant spins around and tosses the car over the kids' heads to land on the weather girl.

Instead of the car hitting her, something was on it. A purple light was slicing the car in midair.

"Holy shit!" Scott gasps.

As the car splits in half, a women flips straight through it and lands on her feet. The purple light was in the shape of a katana sword and she looked like a ninja.

After the car falls to the side, the weather girl stands up and faces them. Hank and the kids stood there frozen in fear.

Harley nervously chuckles, "Hi there. Um . . . how you doin'? I was just looking for my dog. Hey, Spike! Spike, come on, boy! Yeah, I can't whistle. Okay, look. We don't want no trouble."

"Oh, but we do," the lady with the katana sword warns them. "You better run. This ain't a place for kids."

To make it awkward, Harley responds, "Well I'll run, but you won't catch me. I'm faster than the speed of sound right now so I'm good with running."

"Split them up!" The woman commands the weather girl.

Harley wasn't prepared for this, but she had no choice. Right now she only has one job: to fight.


	6. A Good Day to Die Hard

The girl with the white hair blasts her lightning once again and the group begins to run. Scott ran into one of the shops, but lightning was blasting at every corner of Jean.

Using her new super speed, Harley runs towards her friend. Everything in her mind was now in slow motion and she was the only one moving. The lightning was frozen a few feet away from Jean Grey. Harley quickly picks up Jean bridal style and makes a mad dash into a nearby store.

She stops and places Jean back on her feet. "You alright, Jean?" Harley asks her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She gasps as they kneel down behind a table. "Thanks, Harley. How about you?"

Harley nods her head. "If I peed myself, could you pretend I fell in a puddle?" She awkwardly asked.

"It's not raining," Jean mentioned. "Oh, no!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"That Angel guy is there." The redhead puts her hand against her temple as she usually does when she uses her telepathic powers. "Kurt, you have to hurry! Kurt, no! He's in trouble."

It was Kurt's job to get the Professor and nothing can stand in his way. "Stay here." Harley tells the telepath. "I'll go help him."

"Harley!" Jean tries to stop her, but it was too late.

The girl took off in her super sonic speed. Never before has she copied speed powers and she wasn't exactly used to it. While running, Harley's eyes were being covered in dirt, dust, and anything in the air to where she was squinting her eyes. Suddenly, she trips over a broken block piece and stumbles to the ground. No wonder Peter wears those stupid goggles, she thought.

"God, I think I broke my ass cheek!" Sh groans in pain.

Harley Jeknovorian gets up and dust herself off. Her eyes wander all over the destroyed city, searching for the familiar blue boy. "Kurt!" She hollers his name.

Something in the sky caught her eye. It was Kurt fighting Archangel in the air. Harley knew that there was no time and Kurt was the only one who can get the Professor out of danger.

In an instant, Harley runs on top of a building towards the very top and leaps off of it. The next thing she knew, she had jumped on the back of the metal-winged angel.

"Leave him alone!" Harley yells as she repeatedly hits Archangel on his back. Kurt was still battling the horseman in the front and is surprised by his friend's bravery.

"Get off me!" Archangel yells as he tries to fight the two mutants and fly at the same time.

Unfortunately for him, Harley kept beating him up from behind. "Let him go, you stupid, blonde jackass!"

An idea pops into Archangel's head. "How about you let go?!" He bawls. He straightens his wings and make his feathers point toward the back.

Before he could clap his wings together to stab Harley, the mutant purposely releases herself from him. She lets out a yelp as she falls in midair.

"No, Harley!" Kurt screams her name. He automatically slams his forehead against the angel's forehead.

Nightcrawler lets go of Archangel and dives towards Harley. Once he was close enough, Kurt wrap one arm under her back and his other arm over her knees.

"I got you!" He tells her.

Suddenly, Archangel flies towards them and grabs onto Kurt's tail. He teleports down to the ground, holding on tight to Harley.

They are now in the ruins of the city. Archangel is trapped behind a metal fence still holding on to Kurt's tail. Kurt yanks him against the fence, which knocks him out.

"Are you okay, Harley?" Kurt asks the girl, who he was carrying.

"Yeah, I am, Kurt." Harley breathes as she hugs the teleported. "Thank you so much."

Kurt smiles as Harley pulls away. "You are velcome."

They gaze into each other's eyes for a moment. Never before has Harley seen eyes like his. Some people would say he has the eyes of a demon, but Harley thought they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

At that moment, Harley realizes that Kurt was still carrying her. She says awkwardly, "Uh . . . Kurt . . . you can, um, put me down now."

"Oh, yes." Nightcrawler places her back on her feet and nervously laughs. "I am sorry."

"You're good. Now go save the Professor. I'll take on these guys."

"Harley, don't." He stops her, worried that she will get hurt. "Vhat if you can't touch them?"

"I got Peter's speed. Don't wait for me. Good luck, Kurt."

And like that, Kurt disappears. Harley smiles. "You two are cute together." Her smile dies as Angel ruins her wonderful moment.

"Save it, Dumbass." She growls at him.

"Your and your friends aren't gonna survive this, especially you little blue elf boy."

Harley pops her knuckles and holds up her fists. "I'm gonna enjoy kicking you stupid feather ass."

The angel spins in a circle with his feathers out and cuts himself out of the trap. He flies towards Harley, who ducks in time.

"Just so you know . . . I'm not afraid to hit a girl." He warns her.

"Neither am I." Harley grins.

Once he was on his feet, Harley charges toward him in sonic speed. She punched and kicked him multiple times in what was on two seconds for the average person.

At regular speed, Harley takes a deep breath. Archangel kicks her in the stomach and elbows in the chest.

"Ouch!" She screams. "That's my boob, you asshole!" She furiously slaps him across the face and kicks him in groin.

Archangel releases a few of his metal feathers towards her. In a split second, Harley manages to avoid all of them.

She jumps onto him and tries to strangle him with her bare hands. Unfortunately, Archangel was able to throw her off of him.

The cat-eared mutant lands on a pile of wood, concrete, and brick after falling ten feet in the air. Harley groans in pain for a moment, and Archangel suddenly flies off.

Harley looks up at the sky to see the jet taking off. "They made it," she breathes.

The Professor was now safe. According to the plan, she was going to catch up with them. Harley stands up, figuring she should find Raven and Peter.

Before she could take off, she looks up at the sky. Harley witnesses Archangel and Psylocke on top of the jet.

"No!" She screeches.

It came to her mind that Kurt has to be with them and can get them out, but she has seen the level of Kurt's teleportation. He has to see where he's going or if he's been there before, and that he can't teleport more than three person at the same time.

Wait, more than three people, Harley thought. She knew he can't teleport that many people.

Harley looks up at the jet that was now flying down to the ground. "Guys!" She hollers for them, but she runs away.

The jet crashed into the ground, followed a large explosion that was close to Harley. Being only twenty feet away, the crash made Harley loose her balance and fall to the ground.

For a few seconds, her hearing went insane. Everything was so loud to her that she was covering her ears until it returned back to normal.

The girl slowly got up and carefully sprinted behind a wall. When she turns to the side, Harley spots the girl with white hair a few feet away from her. She was crouched down behind the wall, staring at the battlefield. "You!" Harley growls as she stomps toward her.

"Please, don't hurt me!" The girl with white hair begged her. "I don't want this anymore!"

The words that Mystique had told echoed through her mind. Show them no mercy, she thought. It was the look on her face that somehow convinced Harley that she meant it. "What's your name?" Harley asks her.

"Ororo." She revealed her name.

"I'm Harley." The two girls were trying their best to calm down and not attack each other, but there was nothing but awkward silence at the moment.

"You are a mutant?" Ororo asks her.

"Yes, I am." Harley nodded.

"What do you do?"

Harley clears her throat and tell her, "I copy powers and I can identify them. Like I know your thing is the weather. What made you change your mind about this?"

"I did this because I felt alone. I didn't know any other mutants until I met him."

"The big guy?" Harley asked her.

Ororo knew who she was talking about. "Yes, but I realized what he is. I don't want to destroy everything. I do not want to be a monster."

She had never expected this to happen. Harley actually wanted to help her. "The man he kidnapped—his name is Professor Xavier. He runs a school for mutants. If you help us, you can come with us. "

"This professor means a lot to you. You would risk your life for him?"

Everything that has happened up to this point was all for the one man who brought them all together. Harley loved the professor as a friend, a father, a teacher. "Yes," She proudly says.

"Charles!" A monstrous voice shouts out. Ororo and Harley look through the holes of the wall and spotted Apocalypse. "Show yourself! Charles! SHOW YOURSELF!"

Harley clenches her teeth tightly as she stares at the monster. "I have to go," she mumbles.

"Harley, no." Ororo tries to stop her.

"I have to."

Her friend then warns her, "If you try to fight him, you'll die."

Those last words hit her hard. Right now, she was in the middle of a war full of the most powerful mutants she has ever seen. Out of all of them, Harley knew she was below them. With no other choice, she says to the girl with white hair, "I have to protect the Professor."

Harley confidently walks out in the open. Her heart accelerates as she tries to breathe. At last, she blurts out, "Hey, Mr. Apocalypse, sir? I wanna join you. Maybe you can make my powers more powerful. They're nothing. I don't even know why I'm here."

The false god gazes at her and asks, "Why should I believe you?"

"You see your little angel there? He's dead because of me so I think I proved myself to you." She convincingly lies.

"Child, every power is useful and unique." He takes one step closer to her. "I think I like yours very much."

Everything was going according to her plane. "Finally, someone appreciates me. I'm tired of everybody thinking that I'm weak and I don't have real powers."

"You do have powers, my dear. I will give you anything you desire."

"Anything?" She thought of the one thing she wanted. Something she would give anything for. "I lost my dad when I was thirteen. Can you bring him back?"

A tear runs down her cheek as she stares at Apocalypse. He gently wipes her tear and places his hand on her cheek. "Yes, anything you want."

Harley holds her hand on his hand and smiles. "Sounds like a good deal, man. But there's one problem." In the heat of the moment, Harley squeezes his hand with her bare hand and yanks it to the side. Apocalypse let's out a screech of agony as Harley crushes his hand. "You can't bring him back!" Then, Harley kicks him in the chest and Apocalypse goes flying fifteen yards away from her.

Ororo watches her new friend take on the world's first mutant. Harley stomps towards him and yells, "That was for lying about my dad!" She then kicks him in the face, causing him to fall on his back. "That was for Alex Summers! And this is for Professor!"

She holds out her hands towards him. Knowing she copied his telekinesis, Harley was able to make him drop to his knees. Then, she forces his body to go right through a building.

It was time for Harley to show him that she wasn't weak. She did have powers and they were powerful.

"Get up, bitch!" She shouts as Apocalypse gets right back up. "Hit me with your best shot!"

He lifts up his arms and dust begins to fly to him. The dust begins to form an enormous piece of concrete that was even bigger than him. Once the dust stop, Apocalypse throws it at Harley.

Instead of running, Harley leaps up in the air and punches the giant ball. It breaks into pieces as she elegantly lands on her feet.

"Really? That's the best you got, Papa Smurf?!" She hollers. Angered by her copied powers, Apocalypse storms towards her and punches her in the face. Harley was still up and mocks him. "If I wanted a kiss, I would've ask your father."

Apocalypse then clutches her shoulders and lifts her off her feet. He then throws her and she falls to the ground. "No mutant can defeat me!" He proclaimed.

"I'm not just a mutant," Harley tells him as she gets up. "I'm Copycat."

She charges towards him in the heat of the moment. First, she tackles him to the ground and starts punching him in the face. Apocalypse manages to kick her off of his body and jump back off his feet.

"I am done with you!" He shouts.

Harley, who was still on the ground, looks up at the mutant and kicks her foot at his groin. As he stumbles back, she manages to get up in time.

Thanks to Apocalypse's powers, Harley was able to move free and with flexibility. Somehow she even felt like his agility has been enhanced.

The girl leaps off a damaged car and hops onto Apocalypse's shoulders and forcefully elbows him in the head. "Oh, yeah. Guess what? I am not in the mood for your bullshit!"

At the brink of anger, Apocalypse yanks Harley's torso to the side and down on the ground. Harley manages to hold onto his arm as she hits the ground. She wraps her arms around his arm, and uses her legs to push his torso away.

"You leave Professor Xavier alone!" Harley Jeknovorian yells at the villain. "You let him go!"

"I won't!" He screeches.

"You want me to break your arm?! I know how strong you are! It'll be like breaking a toothpick."

Suddenly, Harley felt her strength disappearing. It was happening. She couldn't hold onto Apocalypse's powers anymore.

"You're weakening!" Apocalypse cackles as he manages to lock his hands around her leg.

Instead of breaking her legs apart, Apocalypse keeps her on his arm and lifts her up. "No, no, no!" Harley begins to cry. Then, the mutant slams her down on her back. "Ugh!"

He lets her go and Harley weakly stands back up. Although she stood tall with her fists up, Apocalypse had the upper hand. He begins to punch and kick her over and over. Harley only dodged a few times, but she was getting beaten pretty bad. Bruises formed on her knuckles and side of her face. She spits out the blood that dripped down her teeth.

With little strength she had left, Harley caught his fist and starts punching him in the stomach and chest. Then, she kicks him and he wouldn't budge. As Harley continuously hits him, her copied powers have then disappeared, leaving her to fight unprotected.

"They're right." Apocalypse chortles as he holds Harley still. Then, he grabs her by the shoulders and throws her across. "You are weak."

Harley lays there with blurry vision blinding her from reality. Pain spreads through her body as she coughs in agony. Suddenly, Apocalypse stomps towards her and presses his foot against her throat. The girl clutches onto her foot, trying to push him off, but it was unsuccessful.

"You're not powerful," Harley grunts in anger. "You're no god. You're the fucking Antichrist!"

He presses his foot down on her more and calmly says, "You're going to tell me right now where Charles is."

"He's somewhere far away . . . where you will never find him!" She panted as she tries to catch her breath.

"Why do you still keep fighting when you know death is upon you? How can you not be afraid of me?"

This was it for her. No doubt that Harley could survive this. She failed the mission. She failed Professor Xavier. Before anything else could happen, Harley decided that if she could not intimate him with power, then her words could. "Because I know someone who is more powerful than you'll ever be. They're gonna show you what real power is. Trust me. You're gonna regret ever meeting us." He stares down at her as her eyes began watering. Moments later, Apocalypse quickly removed his foot from her throat and slams it down on her right forearm. "Ahhh!" Harley cries out as she looses feeling to her arm.

All of a sudden, the false god was knocked off of her by a blur. No, it wasn't a blur.

It was Peter.

"I got you, Harles." He stops and quickly kneels down to her.

The incredibly fast mutant picks her up in his arms and runs away. Harley was going in and out of consciousness as Peter Maximoff runs and stops to place her down behind a damaged wall.

"Hey, Harley, don't move. Are you okay?"

She coughs and whimpers to the silver-haired boy, "Peter . . . rip his damn head off!"

Peter nods his head and takes off. The copycat laid there with excruciating pain spreading throughout her body. Then, Ororo appears and kneels down to her. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"It hurts," Harley mumbles

"What hurts?"

Everything, she thought. "My chest. My arm. My head."

Seeing her like this made Ororo's heart dropped into her stomach. "Harley, I'm getting you out of here."

Before Harley could argue with her, they both look at Apocalypse and Peter. Peter's foot was trapped in a unbreakable sand created by the monster. When Apocalypse comes towards him, Peter throws a punch, which Apocalypse caught and twists his arm. To add more agony to the young speedster, the blue mutant kicks the back of Peter's free leg, causing him to scream in misery.

"Peter!" Harley cries out for her friend. She wanted to go help him, even if she couldn't feel most of her body.

Instead of going after him, Ororo kept her there and watched them. Out of the blue, Psylocke appeared with katana sword. She stomps towards Apocalypse, who was gripping Peter by the back of his head.

Unexpectedly, Psylocke twists her sword and stabs it into Apocalypse's chest. Ororo and Harley gasps in amazement, but Apocalypse was able to yank the sword out and was fully healed.

He lets go of Peter and grabs hold of Psylocke's throat. As he lifts her off the ground, the woman transforms into Mystique with no clothes.

"It is her," Ororo breathes. Harley couldn't believe what she was seeing. After everything Mystique had told her, Harley lost faith, but now it is restored.

"Charles, come rescue your weaklings!" Apocalypse shouts as he grips his hand tighter around Raven's throat. "Give your life for theirs!"

Harley cries out, "No!"

The teenage girl attmepts to lift herself up, but her new friend keeps her down. "Harley, stop! No!"

"Raven!"

"Will you do nothing?!" The villian demanded.

Moments later, Raven stopped struggling and her yellow eyes rolled to the back off her head. Apocalypse grins and releases the mutant. She collaspes onto the ground, not moving.

The evil mutant uses his telekinesis to open a hole in a building in front of him. As the wall is disappearing, Harley looks up to find Scott and Hank in the building along with Jean, Moira, and the professor.

Ororo and Harley watch in horror as Apocalypse begins walking towards the building. Out of the blue, a two gigantic metal pieces flew into the ground in front of Apocalypse. They were stabbed into the ground, creating a giant X.

Apocalypse gazes up to the sky to find Erik floating the air. He growls, "You betray me?"

"No, I betrayed them." Magneto declares as every piece of metal around him begins to float next to him.

Instantly, Magneto sends the pieces straight at the false god. Apocalypse then shields himself in a fiery bubble and continues walking to the building.

Still holding onto her life, Harley sadly witnesses the horrific event. Hank attempts to jump on Apocalypse, but is knocked unconscious against a piece of concrete. Then, Scott tries to use his optic beam on him, but he is then absorbed into a wall, unable to take off his glasses.

"Scott . . . " Harley whispers. She knew Hank and Scott would be on the battlefield, but where was Kurt? Her eyes frantically search for the teleporter, but he was nowhere to be found. Tears ran down her face as horrible thoughts of what might have happened to Kurt ran through her head. " . . . Kurt?"

"They can't stop him," Ororo announces. "It's too late. It's over."

It never crossed her mind that she would be here right now. There she was bleeding with a broken arm while her friends were fighting a god. Harley never thought that being mutant would lead to all this. She has seen the full extent of all of their powers and she knew that none of them stand a chance against Apocalypse, except for one person.

"No, it's not." Harley tells her.

The girl with white girl turns to her. "Harley, no man can defeat him."

"You and I can't, but I know someone who's more powerful than Apocalypse and she's no man."

The two girls stare at the building and saw Jean walking towards the mad man known as Apocalypse. Only Harley knew the true nature of Jean's powers and the reason why she never copies her powers. They watch intensely as Jean steps off the edge and begins floating in midair.

"Who is she?" Ororo gasped.

Harley's eyes widen and smiles. "Ororo, meet my friend, Jean."

There was a fire growing inside of her and now was the time to release that fire. In the heat of the moment, Jean lets out an inhuman scream and crosses her arms. She yanks her arms back and fire is unleashed from Jean's body.

A large gush of wind blew from the redhead and Apocalypse screams in agony as he is stripped of his armor by Jean. Ororo's eyes widen and Harley kept smiling as Jean transformed into giant bird of flames. Bits and pieces of Apocalypse began to disintegrate while Jean Grey lets out her true power.

Magneto, who was still in the air, telekinetically sends large pieces of metal towards the villian. The false god is stabbed by the multiple metal objects, but he was still standing.

"He's still not dying," Ororo sighs.

"They could use a little help." Harley suggested to her.

The mutant shook her head. "Stay here." Ororo took off to help them, leaving Harley by herself.

Copycat laid there, staring at the battlefield of chaos and power. Beast awakens and was able to free Scott, allowing him to use his laser vision on Apocalypse . Not willing to give up, Apocalypse was creating his shield of protection to teleport himself away.

Before he could escape, Ororo raises her hands to the sky and stiles lightning onto Apocalypse. His shield begins to break, leaving him unprotected. He takes one last look at Jean Grey in fear and gasps, "All is revealed."

Once he spoke his last words, Jean finally releases more power, turning Apocalypse into dust. The fire surrounding her slowly disappears, and Jean then smiles as she accepts her powers of destruction as they were meant for.

She, Ororo, and Erik float down to their spots. "I need your help." Ororo tells her former teammate of the Horsemen.

Magneto follows the young teenager to the spot where Harley was last found. Although she was still breathing, Harley had looked worse than Ororo had last seen her.

Both kneeled down to her and Erik caresses her face as he looks at her. "She's with them," Ororo informs him. "She's hurt real bad."

"Ororo . . . " Harley grumbles as they check on her. It hurts in her chest for her to speak, so she breathes out her words and talks low.

Realizing that it was painful for her, Erik gently stops her. "Don't speak. Just breathe. Ororo, go get Peter and bring him up to them. He's the boy with the silver hair."

Ororo quickly takes off to find Peter. However, Erik stays to help the poor girl. For some reason, he felt the need to save her more than any of them. He didn't know whether it was that he felt sorry for her or that she reminded him of his wife and daughter. Maybe it was because he didn't want another innocent person dying because of his mistakes.

"Can you walk?" He asks as he helps onto her feet. Harley tries to walk, but she ends up falling into Erik's arms. The mutant carefully picks her up in his arms. "I got you."

She gazes up at him with her one eyes that wasn't swollen shut. "Magneto . . . " She breathes. " . . . I'm sorry . . . about your family."

"Thank you." Erik said to her.

Then, he levitates himself with her up to the second floor of the building where the rest of the X-Men were.

Inside of there was all of her friends, the Professor, Hank, and Moira. "Harley!" Kurt gasps as Magneto appeared.

The blue mutant runs over to him and they gently place her on the floor with a pillow under her head. At that moment, Ororo floated up to the top with Peter and sat him down.

"What happened to her?" Moira asked.

"She fought with Apocalypse," Peter answers the question. "He beat her up pretty bad."

While they talked, Harley then looses her ability to talk. She laid there completely still and her face frozen. When she attempts to take a deep breath, Harley couldn't feel her body anymore. Instead of an open-mouth breath, it came out as little inhaling a through the little space between her lips. They sounded like grumbling.

Everybody looks at her as she grumbles. Frightened by this, Ororo asked, "What is she doing? Why is she making that noise?"

"There's fluid going in her lungs," Jean Grey explains. "They're starting to collapse one breath at a time."

"Do something," Kurt begs for medical assistance for Harley. "She's suffocating."

All of them try to think of something to do to help the dying girl. Then, Erik thought of something. "Ororo, tear off a piece of that blanket," he commanded. "Open her suit on her chest."

As Ororo begins ripping off a large enough piece, Kurt tries to grab the zipper on the top of her shoulder, but his fingers were too big to get the little zipper. "I-I can't."

"Here, sweetie, I got it." Moira kindly crawls to them and unzips her suit. None of them had cared that her dark red bra was showing. They were too busy worrying if she was gonna make it or not.

While Moira opens up her suit, Kurt stares at his bare torso. She was sweating like crazy and he was horrified by the larges purple bruises on her skin. "Harley, don't leave," he whispers as he caresses her face. "Stay vith us. Don't leave."

Erik extends his hand to the outside and a sharp metal object flies into his hand. He quickly cleans it and comes back to Harley.

"What are you gonna do?" Scott asked him.

"I need to get that fluid out. What's her name again?"

"Harley," Kurt says her name.

Then, Erik holds the knife against her ribcage and murmurs, "Harley, I am so sorry for this." He carefully stabs her lung and quickly pulls it out.

Harley lets out a short yelp of pain as she is stabbed. While the fluid leaves her lung, Erik quickly grabs the piece of blanket and presses it against her wound. The girl slowly begins to breathe again. "Uh . . . . thanks," she panted.

"Harley?" Kurt Wagner carefully lifts her head up by the back of the neck. "Hey, Harley."

Now that Harley was barely recovering, her vision was coming back to her. The first thing she saw was Kurt in front of her. She gives a weak smile and wheezes, "Hey . . . Blueberry . . . you're okay. I-I was so worried. Where's . . . Professor?"

"I'm right here, Harley." Charles Xavier calls out to her from across the room.

His voice made her smile even more. Seeing all her friends safe made her heart burst. "Professor, you're here. All of you . . . this is my new friend, Ororo . . . can she come . . . with us?"

"Don't worry about me," Ororo assures her. "You are not well."

"We need to get her to nearby hospital," Hank says. "Kurt, can you get Harley and Peter to a hospital?"

Desperate to help his friend, Kurt agrees, "I don't know. I'll try."

"I'll go too," Erik said to him. "You can't carry both of them."

Kurt grabs a hold of Harley's arm while Peter and Erik clutch his arm. The blue mutant teleports them to a nearby hospital in the parking lot. He then puts Peter's arm over his shoulders and helps him stand up. During that, Erik carefully lifts Harley into his arms and leads Kurt into the hospital.

While they entering the hospital, Harley Jeknovorian felt a strange sensation in her mind and body. She was suddenly light-headed and couldn't seem to keep her eyes open. The girl tries to look around, but looses sight of Erik as she is placed on a bed.

There was no doubt about it. Harley knew that this must be the end of her life. She knew everybody has to die someday, but she never expected her death to be caused by a false god.

"Harley, keep breathing," Kurt begs as he caresses her face. "You have to stay alive. Just breathe."

Most people would've been terrified to see someone like Kurt on their deathbed, but not Harley. At that moment, Harley thought she was in heaven and a blue angel was looking down at her.

"Kurt . . . " She breathes his name, trying to get the words out of her mouth. " . . . the others . . . . get . . . get them . . . home."

Her eyes began to close as her and Kurt's foreheads leaned against each other. Kurt pulls away as the nurses rush Harley into the emergency room along with Peter in a wheelchair.

For the first time, Kurt saw something in Harley that he had seen before. It was her strength of holding onto what was left of her life and her mind was still set on the safety of her friends rather than her own self. He saw it as beautiful.

"Harley."


	7. A Walk Down Memory Lane

The darkness was finally taking over. Was this the end? Was she dead?

Another question that is running through her head: Is this how death begins? Is it just an endless vision of darkness with nothing but the color black? No, it must be more than that. She pictured it as seeing a very bright light in the sky. The light is so bright and beautiful that it was too hard to resist. You have the feeling of not wanting to go towards it, but you mostly knew that you have to go. Once you started following the light, there's no turning back. As you travel through the light, every bit of the pain you had just suffered through just leaves your body. Then, it won't be long until you enter the gateway to heaven.

It wasn't her choice to began with. Harley risked her life to protect her friends and the Professor, and she wasn't going to let Apocalypse hurt them.

A memory came to her. It was something she hid for so long that she never told anybody about.

 _Harley finds herself running through the halls of her old house. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. She was dressed in black jeans, combat boots, bad her grey David Bowie t-shirt._

 _As she drops her backpack, the girl felt heat run through her body and she turns to the mirror as her face looses its color. "What the—Oh, my god!" She gasps._

 _Her eyes were no longer dark brown, but brilliant green with thin pupils. A pair of two grey cat ears were now on top of her head. She gently pulls the sides of her hair to expose the absence of her human ears._

 _The teenager's eyes water as she begins to fall to the floor. She leans up against the wall and starts to cry._

 _Unexpectedly, a knock on the door startles her. "Harley, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked her._

 _"I'm okay, Lucy." She tries to act normal. "I-I am fine."_

 _The maid attempts to open the door, but finds it to be locked. "Sweetie, what are you doing there? You're supposed to be at school."_

 _"Lucy, what's going on?" Harley's mother, Jillian comes out of her office. She was a women of average height with long black hair dressed in dark purple pantsuit._

 _"Harley is home," the maid explains to her boss. "She came home and ran in here. She won't come out."_

 _Jillian knocks on the door and says, "Harley? Harley, dear, what's going on in there?"_

 _Her situation grew much worse once she heard her mother's voice. "Nothing, Mom. I'm okay."_

 _"Sweetheart, open the door."_

 _"I said go away!" Harley snaps at her, unwilling to reveal her mutation._

 _Jillian jiggles the knob, trying to open it. "Harley, let me in!" She raises her voice._

 _Not wanting to hide in the bathroom forever, Harley carefully stands up and walks to the door. Her heart accelerates every second as she steps closer to the door. She shakily unlocks the door, allowing her mom inside._

 _The first thing her mother did was gasp. "Oh, my god."_

 _Harley stood there frozen in fear. Never before has her mother looked at her like she was a monster. "Mom . . . "_

 _"Your eyes . . . " Her mother breathlessly says. Both of them had the same exact eyes, but now they were green cat eyes. " . . . what are those?" She points to her ears._

 _"They're my ears." Harley shakily informs her. "My other ears are gone."_

 _She pulls her hair back to show her mother, who was more disturbed than ever. "You're one of them. Those freaks."_

 _One of them, she thought. Harley had heard of mutants before. She knew that they had powers and some were different in looks, but she never expected to be one._

 _"How am I going to fix this?" Jillian panted to herself, unsure of what to do. "What will everyone say about this? There has to be a cure—"_

 _"Mom, mutations can't be cured." Harley tells her._

 _"Don't touch me!" Her mom snaps at her._

 _The teenager's eyes widen in shock. "Mom, it's me, Harley." Her voice cracks. "I'm still Harley."_

 _"No, you're not." Jillian Jeknovorian harshly implies. "You're just like those monsters."_

 _At that moment, Harley makes a mad dash out the bathroom. She ran through the halls and zooms through the front door. She didn't stop until she was across the street of her house and leans against a tree._

 _Everything that happened seconds ago made her heart drop into her stomach. Harley falls to her knees and lets out a cry of sorrow._

"Is she still there, Charles?" Hank asked his dear friend.

Professor X was dressed in a suit in his wheelchair now with a bald head. He and Hank were in the hospital room of the newly built X-Mansion.

In front of him was Harley Jeknovorian, who was now in coma after her duel with Apocalypse. Charles looks down at the poor child whom he grew to love as his own daughter. Her upper lip was busted, her eye was swollen, she had stitches on her eyebrow, a couple of bruises on her body, a cast on her forearm, and her skin was pale.

"Yes, she is." Professor tells him. "I'm keeping her here."

"That's good. How long do you think it'll take until she wakes up?"

Charles shrugs his shoulders. "Possibly a week as long as I keep pulling her back."

Both men gazes at her as they took a deep breath. "She's a survivor, Charles," Hank says. "I knew it the moment I met her."

 _In a homeless shelter in New York, Harley sits outside taking a bite out of a ham and cheese sandwich they offered her. She had been there for nearly a week and never before has she felt this hungry and lonely._

 _Suddenly, a man with a beard and a black beanie walks towards her. He then snatches the sandwich out of her hands. "Thanks, kid."_

 _"Hey, give me that!" Harley stands up and attempts to get it back, but the man forcefully pushes her._

 _The teenager stumbles back and lands on the floor with the man standing over here. "What the hell are you supposed to be, Josie and the Pussycats?"_

 _Before he could do anything, someone grabbed a hold of his arm and yanked it back. "Leave her alone," the man warns him. He was tall and skinny, dressed in regular clothes and glasses._

 _"Get lost, Glasses!"_

 _To make him more afraid, the man with glasses yanks him closer with his collars and barks, "Did you not hear me? I said leave her alone. She's just a kid and here you are being an asshole. Get out of here now!" He pushes the man away from her, causing him to drop the sandwich._

 _"Okay, man, sorry." He takes off, startled by him._

 _Harley lays on the floor, looking up at the hero. "Are you okay?" He asks, extending his hand towards her._

 _Grateful for him, she shakily grabs his hand, allowing him to help her onto her feet. "I-I think so."_

 _The man picks up the sandwich from the floor. "Here's your sandw—bread. Looks like he ate it all."_

 _"You don't look homeless." Harley mentions to him. "Why are you here?"_

 _"No, I'm not homeless. Are you hungry? I could get you something to eat."_

 _It seemed strange how he immediately offers her food after he helped her. "I don't know you."_

 _"Well I just helped you here and I didn't even tell you my name. My name is Hank." He holds out his hand for her to shake._

 _She gazes at him for a moment and then accepts it. "I'm Harley."_

 _After their meeting, Hank drives her to a local diner to get something to eat. Hank had a coffee while Harley ordered a burger and fries. She deliberately began to stuff her face as Hank's eyes widen._

 _"You were starving, weren't you?" He chuckled._

 _She puts her burger on her plate and says, "Yeah, I was. What are you staring at?"_

 _"Nothing, Harley." Hank nodded_

 _Ever since she ran away her home and entered the city, anybody who saw Harley would lock their eyes on her. Some strangers were polite and ignored her, but others were more obvious about it. "Okay, you're studying me." Harley Jeknovorian points out to him. "I got three possible reasons of why your eyes on me. One, you noticed that I eat my fries with mustard. Two, you're staring at my eyes and my ears. Or three, you're a rapist."_

 _Hank smirks, "Yeah, definitely not number three."_

 _"But number two is the winner?"_

 _"Possibly. Plus, fries and mustard. That's gross."_

 _Harley snorts, "What? They're delicious. You find me weird, uh?"_

 _"No, not at all," Dr. McCoy disagrees._

 _Something was troubling Harley of why Hank was so helpful and open about her. "Why are helping me, Hank?" She asked._

 _Hank clears his throat. "I know what you are, Harley. You're a mutant."_

 _"That makes sense," she sarcastically remarks. "For one thing, I thought I was just seeing shit."_

 _"I'm actually a teacher at this school called Xavier's School for the Gifted," he informs her of his job._

 _"The Gifted?" Harley had never thought of herself as anything special. "I've heard of that school. I thought it was a place for snotty, shitty rich kids who waste their parents' money on useless crap."_

 _"No, it's for kids with incredible gifts like you."_

 _"Really? A school for mutants? That sounds stupid."_

 _For one thing, Harley was a tough cookie, but Hank was determined to convince her. "Call it whatever you want, but I was sent here to find you."_

 _Harley's ears went up once he said that. "Who sent you?"_

 _"A man named Charles Xavier. He runs the school and searches for other mutants who are alone and abandoned because of their mutations. The professor send me to come talk to you and see if you were interested."_

 _It was an rare opportunity for her to accept. A school for people like her actually existed, but Harley wasn't entirely convinced. "Listen, Stretch. I'm not looking for a hand-me down. I get it you feel sorry for me and all this mopey-dopey crap—"_

 _Hank McCoy interrupts her, You ran away from home, Harley. Your mom wasn't happy about you coming out as a mutant."_

 _Her stomach twists in a knot. "No, she was furious. She hates me."_

 _As she pick at her food, Hank tells her, "She doesn't. It was just hard for her to accept and people make bad choices when they're mad, scared, or stressed."_

 _"I don't wanna go back." She admits to him. "It's best that I'm not there for awhile."_

 _"I'm gonna give you a choice here. I leave and you can continue living the rest of your life fighting over a can of tuna on the streets or . . . you can come with me. We can give you food, shelter, and guide you. Here's the card." He stands up and hands her the school card. "Just give me a call if you change your mind."_

 _Once he gives her the card, Hank McCoy heads out the door, leaving the teenager in the booth._

 _Harley thought for a second. She had nowhere to go and no one to care for. It was hard to accept herself at this time, but someone actually wants her to stay with them._

 _Finally, the cat-eared mutant makes a mad dash out the door and stops at Hank's car. He quickly rolls down the window and innocently asks, "May I help you, ma'am?"_

 _She smiles. "I was just thinking . . . do you mind giving me a little tour of the place?"_

 _"Hop in."_

Charles chuckles at the memory. "You think the food convinced her?"

"It made a difference." Hank implied as he checks her pulse. "Mustard and fries don't belong together, but no one's perfect."

The doors of the room opened. Raven in her natural blue form, dressed in sweats, coming into the room. "How is she doing?" The blue lady asks them.

"Staying strong for the most of it," Hank answers her. "How are you, Raven?"

Raven looks down at the girl, stroking a piece of her hair. "Worried about her. So are the kids, but mostly Kurt."

"There's nothing for them to worry about," Charles Xavier assures her. "Harley is in good hands."

"She's a tough kid. She's got a big mouth but still tough."

"Which was why she gets detention every two weeks," Hank quickly added. The three of them laugh for a few seconds, but stopped.

"I just didn't think she would fight him."

Charles sighs, "I shouldn't have stopped him."

Both Raven and Hank look at him, surprised by his words. "Charles . . . " Hank attempts to calm him.

"She would be safe if I hadn't stopped him." He mentally beats himself up. During the battle, he knew most of them could handle it, but his worst fear came true. Seeing Harley like this made his heart break every second.

"Charles, if you gave in, then none of us would be alive right now," his adoptive sister tells him. "She made the choice to help, even if she knew she was no match against him. She chose us over her own life. She chose to protect you."

"Thanks, Raven." Professor rolls his wheelchair in front of the hospital bed and places his palms against her temple. "Harley, dear, thank you so much for everything you've done. I want you to know that you're not alone. It's okay. I'm here."

 _In the school of the Gifted, Harley follows Hank down the hall towards Professor Xavier's classroom. The entire school was beautiful, populated by teenagers, pre-teens, and kids._

 _Most of them did what everybody has done: stare at Harley. She gives them dirty looks, but Hank simply told the kids, "Get to class, guys."_

 _They obeyed him, but they walked away with their eyes glued on the new kid. "Don't worry, Harley. They're not staring at you like that. You're new here."_

 _"Well who can miss me, right," Harley commented._

 _Both of them stopped in front of Charles's classroom and Hank tells her, "Just wait here,_

 _Harley nods her head. "Okay, no problem."_

 _As Hank goes into the classroom, the teenager leans up against the wall and crosses her arms. She gazes at anyone who passed by her. The students were neatly dressed in pale or bright colors with books in their hands. Most of them stare at her once more, but others simply ignored her._

 _The one thing that caught her off guard was a little girl of the age of ten or nine. She had pale blonde hair and faded freckles on her face. The girl had on a cute striped red dress along with a scarf tied around her neck._

 _She stares at Harley, creeping her out. Finally, Harley awkwardly says, "Uh . . . hi there."_

 _"Hi," she responds to her. "Your eyes are big. They're really green like a cat. You have cat eyes."_

 _"Thanks." She frowns._

 _"I'm Natalie." The little girl walks closer to her._

 _"I'm Harley."_

 _Natalie was enchanted by the mysterious girl. "Are those your ears?"_

 _The teenage mutant slowly begins to smile. "Yeah, they are."_

 _"Wow, that's cool." She compliments her._

 _For the first time, someone actually liked the way she looks and Harley couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. I like your scarf."_

 _"I can't take it off," Natalie warns her._

 _Harley shakes her head in confusion. "Why not?"_

 _"My neck is ugly."_

 _Those words made her heart dropped into her stomach. How could a child talk about herself like that? How can anybody talk about themselves like that? "Couldn't be any worse than my ears." Harley smirks. Natalie gazes at her as she carefully removes her scarf. On both sides of her neck appeared to be scars that slowly moved up and down. "Are those gills? They're pretty cool."_

 _Her compliment made the younger girl giggle. "Thanks."_

 _At that moment, Hank McCoy walks out the door. "Okay, Harley, you are—Oh, hi, Natalie."_

 _"Dr. McCoy, Harley likes my gills." Natalie excitedly tells the man._

 _"The most adorable gills I ever seen," Harley added._

 _"I have to go. Bye, Harley. Bye, Dr. McCoy."_

 _While the child walks away, Hank crosses his arms and murmurs, "That's amazing."_

 _"What?" She asked._

 _"Natalie never talks to anybody. She's shy because of her gills. This is the first time I've seen her talk to anyone besides the Professor since she came here."_

 _Harley's ears went up in reaction, surprising Hank. "Really?"_

 _"That and she never takes off her scarf. She seems to like you a lot. Come on, Harley."_

 _The man escorts Harley into Xavier's office. "So is this like more a interview or cheerleading tryouts?" Harley asked._

 _"Definitely interview," Hank McCoy chuckles._

 _In the office was the famous Charles Xavier that Harley had heard of. He was a man in thirties with brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a suit and rolled in his wheelchair. There was something in his boyish smile and kind eyes that made Harley feel welcome in his school._

 _"Hi there," she nervously said._

 _"Hello, I'm Charles Xavier." He extends his hand for her to shake and she accepts. "You must be Harley."_

 _Fascinated by his genuine personality and British accent, Harley shakes his hand and introduces herself, "Harley Jeknovorian."_

 _"Jekna–ror-ian?" Charles tries to pronounce her last name._

 _"Jek-nuh-vor-reeun. My last name is a mouthful. It's better than my mom's maiden name. It's Pappayiorgas. She's Greek."_

 _The professor laughs for a moment. "Welcome to my school, Harley. Have a seat."_

 _She does what he says and sits down in front of his desk. "This place is huge. I've heard it before. I just didn't think it would be this great."_

 _"I created it so the kids could feel at home," he informs her._

 _At first, Harley was deeply amazed by the entire school, but she just wanted to get to the point. "So you know why I'm here. It because of my . . . being a mutant."_

 _"That's why everyone is here."_

 _"Are you a mutant too?" Harley asks him._

 _"Yes, I am."_

 _"What is your gift? If you don't wanna tell me, it's cool."_

 _Professor Xavier purses his lips. "I can read people's minds."_

 _Once he said that, Harley bursts out laughing. Then again, if she had cat ears, anything is possible at this point. "Okay, that sounds ridiculous. Prove it. What am I thinking of?"_

 _"It doesn't work like that. But I know you're from Washington, D.C., and your full name is Harley Nicole Jeknovorian. Your parents are Robert and Jillian, you are Greek and Armenian with a little bit Indonesian from your grandma Philomena, and you're allergic to mushrooms. Also, your best friend's name was Diana Ripley, you write with both hands but you prefer your right more, and you used to be on the volleyball team at your other school."_

 _His entire monologue made her heart stop for a second. Everything he just said was true and Harley just sat there stunned. "Either you are a telepath or a total stalker," she replied._

 _"So you do believe me?"_

 _"Okay, let's just say I believe you for a moment. So, Professor, how does this work? Do I have to pay?"_

 _"It depends. I know you ran away from home, Harley, which is alright. We provide things to our runa—transfer students. If you choose to stay here, I can help you understand your abilities and adjust to your mutation."_

 _"You can't make me normal again?"_

 _Charles looks at her with concerned written on his face. "My dear, I'm not here to fix any of you because none of us are broken. I'm not gonna force you to stay here, but how we start off with a little trail. You can stay here for a week. We provide you with clothes, a room, and a schedule for classes. If you like it, we let you stay. If not, you can leave."_

 _This was a chance of a lifetime. Harley liked how professor didn't force her to stay or go away. He actually gave her a choice to allow her to think of her future. It was something no one had ever allowed her to do._

 _"I guess I can give this place a try."_


	8. Wake Up Me Before You Go-Go

The others came in once a day to visit Harley. Most of them would be startled yet excited by a slight twitch in her eyes or a little wiggle from her toes, but Harley still wouldn't wake up. Some were even scared to touch her, fearing that it would make things worse.

Harley's only physical contact throughout her whole coma was Charles gently kissed her forehead, Jubilee and Peter held her hand, Raven caresses her face, and Kurt would place his hand on her arm. Erik stayed for a few days and checked on her, which surprised everyone especially Charles.

As a couple of days passed, Charles continues to come to Harley's hospital room everyday to check on her. Every time he felt her slipping, he pulled her back and kept her in her mind.

Suddenly, the door opened. Kurt Wagner enters the room with a notebook in his hands and a couple of pages. He was dressed in a striped t-shirt and black jeans. Since he was new to America, he was still trying to find the right style for him.

"Hello, Professor," Kurt says to him.

Professor turns to him and responds, "Hello, Kurt, how are you?"

"Good, sir. I just learned today vhat global varning and PMS is. I came to see Harley today. I didn't get to come yesterday because of my classes."

"Oh, of course."

The blue mutant stares down at her and questions Professor, "How is she?"

"Still struggling, but she's getting there."

Kurt then quickly reminds him, "By zhe vay, Dr. McCoy needs you in zhe office. I could get you zhere—"

"No, no, that is alright, Kurt. I can take the elevator. Bye."

"Bye." As Charles rolls to the doors, Kurt Wagner sat in the chair next to Harley's bed. He whispers, "Harley, it's me, Kurt. I'm here so you are not alone, Katzenaugen."

 _"Do you think Kurt is hot?"_

 _Harley snaps her head back to Jubilee. "Who?"_

 _The two girls were walking down the hall of the mansion after class. It had been nearly a month since Harley came to the school. Everybody was quite startled once they saw the cat eyes and her ears were on top of her head, except for one person and her name is Jubilation Lee._

 _"Kurt." Jubilee repeated. "You know, Kurt Russell?"_

 _Both of them had a notebook and a book in their hands. Jubilee had her wavy hair pulled back in a low ponytail and was dressed in a black shirt and red pants. Harley was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a white skirt, black leggings, and black and white slippers._

 _"Definitely," Harley answered._

 _"Would you date him?"_

 _The girl with cat ears shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. He doesn't seem to be my type."_

 _Jubilee purses her lips. "Harley, what is your type exactly?"_

 _"I have that feeling that she might be into girls."_

 _Both girls turn back to find Sydney and Chris walking up behind. The two mean girls were dressed in blazers and fashionable outfits, which Harley wouldn't be caught dead in._

 _"Shut up, Chris." Jubilee scoffs at the girl with bright pink eyes._

 _"Who sharpened your tongue, Little Girl? Sorry to interrupt your conversation. Were you about to attend your lesbian orgy?"_

 _Harley Jeknovorian rolls her eyes and responds, "You know all that homophobic crap makes you sound super gay right now. As well as your hairy legs. You should probably think about shaving above the knee next time you decide to wear a skirt." She and Jubilee start laughing at Harley's little insult._

 _"Oh, please," Sydney begins to taunt her. "I'm pretty sure you're super gay. What guy would wanna be with someone like you?"_

 _Normally, Harley would insult her back, but this is time was different. She knew what she meant by someone like her. Someone who had the weirdest eyes known to man and no human ears. "Leave her alone," Jubilee barks at them._

 _"Don't you ever see how people look at you?"_

 _"Well, Syd, who can miss her?" Chris snorts along with her. "No wonder the guys don't talk to her."_

 _Jubilee's blood boil and Harley stood there in silence. "Okay, would you back off?" Jubilation Lee defends her friend._

 _Before they could say anything else, a familiar voice interrupts, "You heard her?Back off."_

 _The four girls turn to find Jean Grey near them. Sydney and Chris took a step back away from the telepath as they both loose their breath._

 _"J-Jean," Chris stutters_

 _"I'm sure the both of you didn't mean what you said." Jean calmly tells them. "So if you would just apologize and walk away, then we won't have a problem."_

 _Both girls stood there in silence, frightened by the redhead whom everyone was afraid of. "Yeah, fine." Sydney nervously apologizes. "Sorry. Chris, let's get out of here."_

 _"Good idea. I don't want my head to explode." She looks at Jean once she said that. As the two girls begin to walk away, Chris stops by Harley and whispers, "Nobody will ever love you."_

 _Her words stab Harley in the heart. It took all of her strength not to drop to her knees and break down in tears. But sadly, she was loosing that strength._

 _"Are you okay?" Jean asked her._

 _Instead of answering, Harley took off in the other direction._

 _"Harley, wait!" Jubilee calls out, running after her._

 _Harley sprints to her room and slams her door shut. She drops to her knees besides the bed and bursts into tears._

 _Moments later, Jubilee storms into the room and sits on the floor to comfort her friend. "It's okay," she coos to her. "Don't listen to them."_

 _"No, they were right," Harley Jeknovorian whimpers. "I can't leave my room without anybody's eyes on me."_

 _"Just ignore them. They're jerks."_

 _Never before has Harley felt this weak in all her life, but she chose to believe them. "Jubilee, none of the boys talk to them because I'm ugly. Oh, God! I sound like a normal, shitty teenage girl for crying out loud. They stare at me all the time. I'm gonna end up living in this house for the rest of my life."_

 _"No, you're not."_

 _"How can you be so sure?" Harley demanded._

 _Jubilee wasn't sure of what to say to her. She wanted every mutant in the world to be happy and safe with who they are. She can't change the way people judge others, but she can help others feel accepted. "Okay, Harley, I can't see the future. But everybody has somebody they belong to. One day, you're gonna find someone who's gonna love you heart and soul."_

 _"Thanks, Jubes." Harley stops crying and leans over to hug her friend. Once she pulls back, the girl with cat ears decides to finish their conversation from earlier. "By the way, I didn't get to tell you that I think Eddie Murphy is hot. So is Chevy Chase."_

 _Jubilation Lee's eyes widen. "What? Eww!" Both of them begin laughing like there was no tomorrow._

 _"What?" Harley giggles._

 _"They're not hot!" Her friend couldn't contain her laughter._

 _"I like funny guys, okay! Haha!"_

Kurt took out his rosary and held it in his hands. Then, he kneels down next to the bed and crosses himself.

"Our Father, vho art in heaven

Hallowed be Zhy Name;

Zhy kingdom come,

Zhy vill be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us zhis day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive zhose who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. Amen."

He gazes at her, hoping that her eyes would open. Unfortunately, Harley was still unconscious.

Kurt leans in closer to her face and whispers, "Come back. Please, come back, Harley. Please open your eyes." It wasn't enough for him to beg her. He wanted Harley to know that she was alive and he was there. Kurt Wagner gently places a kiss on her right cheek. After three seconds, the blue foreigner pulls back and waits for her to awaken, but nothing happens. "So stupid of me. Zhis isn't Sleeping Beauty, Kurt."

For some reason, Kurt felt something for Harley. He didn't exactly know what it was. It could've been the little things about her that fascinated him in only one day of knowing her. All he knew was that he wanted her back in the real world.

"Kurt?" A voice startles him.

The blue mutant turns back and finds Jean at the door. "Jah, um . . . yes, Jean?" He nervously stutters.

"What were you doing there?" She asked him, pretending she didn't see him kiss Harley.

"Praying." He blurts out. "Uh . . . vhat are you doing?"

Jean raises an eyebrow and grins at Kurt. "Checking on Harley. Seems like it was more than just praying there."

"It vas . . . an innocent kiss."

"It's okay, Kurt," she chuckles. "I get it."

As Kurt tries to hide his blush, Jean walks over to Harley's bed. "Harley, hey." She coos to her. "It's good to see you again."

"Does she know ve are here?" He asks the telepath.

"She feels our presence. You know . . . I didn't have any friends at school when I first came."

Her statement made Kurt frown. "You didn't? So vhat happened?"

Jean Grey smiles down at her friend and reveals, "I met Harley."

 _A few days passed after her breakdown, Harley was sitting in anatomy, doodling a little flower in her notebook. Her fuzzy curls were loose and teased to where they were barely able to cover her ears. She has on the same David Bowie t-shirt on, and black jeans._

 _Mrs. Shanahan, the anatomy teacher, announces, "Okay, guys, you are going to do a project on the lungs. I'm going to give you the papers of instructions and we provided you with supplies. I already have your partners assigned. James, you'll be with Michael. Jennifer with Nicholas, Sophie with Alexandra, Oscar with Ben, Tye with Kodi, Olivia with Evan and Jean with Harley."_

 _The girl with cat ears rolls her eyes and walks up to get the supplies._

 _"Good luck with that," a boy with blonde hair mumbles to her._

 _"What are you talking about?" Harley asked._

 _A girl with braces and no hair whispers to someone else, "She has no idea, does she?"_

 _"You got partnered up with Jean Grey," the blond boy informs Harley. "You're dead, Harley. She's a total nutcase."_

 _"Sheesh, what is with everyone?" Harley quietly says under her breath._

 _Once Harley got everything they needed, she walks over to Jean's table. Jean was dressed in black pants, black tank top, and a white lace overshirt. She was writing something down in her notebook as Harley places the supplies on the table._

 _"Hey, Jean, you probably don't remember me—"_

 _Jean Grey looks up and calmly cuts her off. "Harley, right? You're Jubilee's new friend."_

 _"Yeah, I am. I'm pretty sure I got the supplies."_

 _"Perfect. Let's get started." Harley sits next to her and begins reading the instructions. While she reads, Jean notices her t-shirt and immediately starts a conversation. "You're a fan of David Bowie?"_

 _The girl turns to her and answers, "Totally. I'm like in love with him. You a fan of him?"_

 _"Not really. I prefer Madonna and Queen."_

 _"Madonna, not so much. Queen, hell yeah. I love their song from the Flash Gordon movie."_

 _Her statement made Jean's eyes widen. "Oh, my god. I thought I was the only person who's ever seen Flash Gordon."_

 _"Who can miss it?" Harley chuckles. "You got Sam Jones and a bunch of hawkmen in the air yelling die!" Jean bursts out laughing as Harley mimics the voice. "So where are you from, Jean?"_

 _"New York," she answers._

 _"Cool. I came from Washington DC."_

 _Jean looks at her and mumbles, "Far from home, aren't you?"_

 _For some reason, Harley Jeknovorian thought of something else by her tone of voice. "You're staring at my ears, aren't you?"_

 _"No, I'm not. I mean yeah, it's just cool."_

 _"Cool? You should see my life now." Harley sits up and explains to the redhead. "I can't wear my headphones correctly. I have to hold them against my ears. Every time I use the telephone, I have to talk into the phone and then listen to the other person, but not at the same time. I have to use like eight cotton swabs to clean these things."_

 _Instead of feeling sorry for her, Jean begins laughing. "Hahaha! Eight cotton swabs?"_

 _"Yeah," Harley starts giggling as well. "I mean these things get so dirty easily. Cleaning my ears is like digging for treasure."_

 _As both girls laugh, two boys next to them gave dirty looks._

 _"Is she actually talking to her?"_

 _"Harley's officially best friends with Xavier's number one freak."_

 _Unfortunately, Harley was able to hear them. She stops laughing and turns to them. "Excuse me, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"_

 _One of the boys innocently responds, "Didn't hear me? I think you can pick Radio Free Europe with those ears."_

 _"Ooh!" The other boy chuckles._

 _Not wanting to start something, Jean places her hand on Hadley's shoulder and murmurs, "Harley, don't give into it."_

 _Harley purses her lips. "I got this." She turns to the guys and smirks, "Very funny. Unlike you, I'm gonna be mature about this. I love what you've done to your hair. How did you get it to come out of your nostrils like that?"_

 _As the boy sat there stunned, the other one bursts out laughing at the insult, which earned him a punch in the arm. "Shut up," the other boy muttered._

 _After the boys go back to their work, Harley turns to Jean and asks, "Okay, is there anybody here who isn't scared of a girl with cat ears? It's not like I'm gonna rip their throats out."_

 _"It's not you, Harley," she informs her . "It's me."_

 _Something about what Jean said didn't make sense at all. "Jean, what are you talking about?" She asked, curious about her secret._

 _"I have no control of my powers," she reveals to her._

 _"What is your gift? Don't tell me you turn into man-eating spider."_

 _Jean chortles, but then grows serious as she explains to Harley, "I have some telepathic ability."_

 _"Like Professor?" Harley asked._

 _"Something like that." The telepath shrugs her shoulders._

 _That's it, Harley thought. It didn't make any sense to her as to why nobody would talk or even sit next to Jean all because she's a mind-reader. Harley wasn't going to stand for it at all. "I don't get what the big deal is. You don't scare me, Jean."_

 _"I'm glad because so far you're the first friend I made since I got here and that was about three months ago."_

 _Harley stares at her for a moment. "We're friends?"_

 _Not wanting to scare her, Jean nods her head and says, "If you want to be."_

 _For one thing, she understood Jean. At first, nobody wanted to be friends with Harley, but she got over it. Of course Jean was just a telepath so Harley smiles and says, "Sure, Jean. We're friends."_

"I had no idea zhat she brought you out of your shell," Kurt says as Jean messes with her bracelet.

The redhead clears her throat and murmurs, "Everybody was always afraid of me except for her. She's a go-getter, you know. Doesn't take no for an answer or give up on anybody."

"How did you discover your powers, Jean?"

"To tell you the truth, Kurt . . . " Jean tries her best not to cry. " . . . I was around nine when I got my powers. I was playing frisbee outside with my best friend, Annie Malcolm. I threw it too hard and the next thing I knew . . . a car hit her. I went to check on her and I felt her pain, fear, and everything. After that, I fell into a coma for two years and dreamt of fire and I was dancing among the stars."

Besides the whole dancing among the stars, Kurt felt a flow of sorrow for his friend. He places his hand on her shoulder and tells her, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's okay, Kurt. At least she's in a better place now." To change the subject, Jean questions him, "How did you get your powers, Kurt?"

Her question had already filled Nightcrawler's mind with memories of the circus. Some were of his amazing acrobatic performances and innocent childhood memories, but some were of the audience and citizens in the towns they traveled to were horrified to see him. "Vell, I vas already like zhis vhen I vas born. My teleportation came when I vas about ten or eleven during one of my acts." Another person popped into his head about their powers. "How did Harley discover her powers?"

Jean shrugs her shoulders and answers, "I don't know. I asked her once, but she got us off topic by talking about how come every athlete becomes an actor. For once Harley would love to see Bill Murray get his ass kicked in boxing."

Then, an idea came to Kurt. "You zhink you should see?"

"Maybe. But you're doing it with me, Kurt."

"I am not a telepath," Kurt Wagner reminds her.

"Here." She takes hold of his hand and rests it against Harley's temple. "Ready?"

Never before has Kurt seen the mind of another living person, but he wants to take that chance. "Ja, I'm ready."

Kurt closes his eyes and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation throughout his body. It was like a giant gush of wind knocked him off his feet.

Finally, he regains his senses and finds himself in the halls of the mansion. It was night time and the whole house was quiet, indicating that everyone was asleep.

Next to Kurt was Jean who was looking around, also confused by the setting.

"Vhy are ve in zhe mansion, Jean?" He asked her.

"It's not the mansion now," she explains to him. "Kurt, we're inside her memory. I guess Harley got the physical mutation first, and then discovered her power here."

 _"We're the kids in America!" A singing voice startles them both. "Whoa!"_

Jean and Kurt look back to find Harley walking down the hall. She was dressed in orange and yellow striped T-shirt and jeans. The mutant was holding headphones against her large cat ears and had the cassette player underneath her armpit.

"Harley?" Kurt said her name, excited to see her. "Harley!"

Before he could take off, Jean Grey grabs a hold of his arm. "Kurt, she can't see you. It's just a memory."

"Oh, I'm sorry." The tone of Kurt's voice sadden as he realized that it wasn't the real Harley. "How can you really be sure it's her?"

 _Harley, who was still singing to the song, accidentally bumps into the flower pots on the table, but luckily catches it in time. "Whoops! Let's be kind to plants now."_

Her clumsy movements and quirky response made Jean chuckle. "Yeah, that's pretty much her."

Both of them followed the cat-eyed mutant into the bedroom hallways. Harley makes her way towards one of the doors and opens it.

"What is she doing?" Jean mumbles to herself.

"Vhat's zhe matter, Jean?" Kurt asked her.

Jean watches Harley look back and forth at the doors, and confidently walks into the door in front of her. "She's going into my room."

 _Don't make a new story_

 _(Kind hearts) don't grab any glory_

 _We're the kids in America (whoa)_

 _We're the kids in America (whoa)_

 _Everybody live for the music-go-round_

 _"Oh, crap," she blurts out, realizing that it wasn't her room. "Sorry . . . Jean?"_

 _On the bed was her new friend, Jean, who was tossing and turning. The redhead panted in her sleep, frightening Harley. "No . . . No . . ."_

Kurt and the real Jean followed Harley into the room, and watch in silence.

 _Harley took a step towards her and looks up at her walls. Bubbles and smoke began to form on the walls, and everything was rattling and shaking._

 _"What the hell?" Harley mumbles as she stares at the wall. The girl stops and glares down at Jean. "Jean? Hey, Jean. Jean, wake up." She reaches out and touches her shoulder._

 _All of a sudden, Harley is blinded by a vision, which allows Kurt and Jean to see it in their minds as well._

 _Their vision was filled with quick flashes of fire, cities being destroyed, and people turning into dust. "Power!" An inhuman voice proclaims. "Life incarnate! Now and forever . . . I . . . AM . . . PHOENIX!"_

 _"Ahh!" Harley Jeknovorian screams to the top of her lungs as the vision grows too much for her._

 _At last, the vision stops and she brought back to reality. Everything in the room shaking even more and Jean was still struggling. Harley begin crying and hollering in fear as she stumbles back onto the floor. The door flies open with Hank McCoy and Professor Xavier in the doorway._

 _"Harley!" Hank calls her name and runs to the screaming teenager on the floor._

 _"Hank, take her outside now," Professor orders him as he rolls to the bed._

 _Obeying his command, Hank quickly picks up Harley in his arms and carefully but quickly leaves the room. Then, he stops in the hall and places Harley on the ground, leaning her against the wall._

 _At that moment, all of the children and teachers step out of their bedrooms, awoken by the poor girl's screaming._

 _"What's going on?"_

 _"What happened?"_

 _Nurse Annie steps closer to Dr. McCoy, who was on the floor with Harley. "Hank, what's wrong with Harley?" She asked._

 _"It's alright." Hank calmly answers. "Everybody, back to your rooms right now."_

 _Knowing that it was serious, Annie commands the children, "You heard him. Back to your rooms. Hurry up, kids."_

 _As everybody leaves the hallway, Hank McCoy hugs the crying teenager. "Harley, you're okay. Just breathe. It's okay. You're okay."_

 _Once she stopped whimpering, Harley took in deep breaths and gasped, "What...what the hell was that? "_

 _"Are you okay?"_

Kurt and Jean stood there, watching Harley tremble in fear. _"No, I . . . that was horrible."_

 _"What were you doing in there?" He asked her._

 _She quickly explains to the teacher, "I got confused by the rooms and I walked into Jean's room by accident. Then, she looked like she was having a nightmare and I tried waking her up. I saw . . . so much fire a-and death. It was a bird of flames or something like that."_

 _Hank clutches her shoulder and coos to her, "You're okay. It's alright, Harley."_

 _Out of the blue, Harley begins hearing a couple of voices, but there was no one else in the hall besides her. "What the—Dr. McCoy, where is that coming from?"_

 _"What? What's wrong?" Hank questions her, confused by her reaction._

 _The poor girl anxiously looks around and pants as more voices kept talking. She didn't know where they were coming from, but she kept hearing them in her head. "I-I keep hearing voices. Where are they coming from?"_

 _"Harley, there's nobody talking."_

 _The more she freaked out, the more voices she kept hearing. Suddenly, everything in the hallway began shaking as if there was an earthquake. The windows started cracking, the lights were flickering, and the ground was rumbling. Not only was Harley hearing the voices, but she kept seeing quick flashes of visions and memories. As she sees and listens to them, she could also feel their happiness, anger, pain, and heartbreaks as in one. "Make it stop! Please tell them to stop!" The teenager drops to her knees. "So much . . . it's too much!"_

 _"Charles!" Hank calls out to the Professor._

 _"Stop it!" Her head was in pain as she felt everything at the same time. Harley covers her ears and screams, "PLEASE . . . STOP . . . IIIITTT!"_

 _Before anything else could happen, Harley and everything around them froze into place. At last, Harley collapses into Hank's arms._

 _Professor Xavier was in his wheelchair at Jean's door, having put Harley to sleep. "Jean did something to her," Hank implied._

 _"No, Hank, that wasn't Jean," Charles informs him. "It was Harley."_

Kurt turns to the redhead, who stood there stunned. "Jean, vhat just happened?" He asked her.

"She copied my powers." Jean nearly lost her breath saying that.

Their setting changes like a mirage. They find themselves in Harley's room.

 _Harley was resting in her bed as Hank and the professor were discussing the incident from across the room._

 _"Charles, she kept hearing voices and everything around her was starting to move," Hank explains to his friend. "She explained everything that Jean has experienced. How is that possible?"_

 _Professor Xavier looks over at the girl and suggested, "Perhaps she has a copying ability."_

 _"That could be it. She did touch Jean, so it's a skin to skin contact power."_

 _Suddenly, Harley's eyes flutter as she awakens. "Professor?" She whispers as she massages her forehead._

 _Charles rolls over to the girl and asks, "Harley, dear, how are you feeling?"_

 _"Dizzy," she mumbles. "H-How did I get back to my room?"_

 _"Hank carried you back."_

 _Memories of the incident finally came back to her. Harley stares at his professor and asks, "What was that? Why did I hear all of those voices? "_

 _The professor decides to test her. "Harley, do you know all of Jean's powers?"_

 _"No, just her ability to read minds, communicate mentally and project her thoughts into other's minds. She can feel and track other people's minds, and can also control people. Jean has a slight ability of seeing the future along with mental illusions, psionic shield, psionic blast, and she can stop our powers from working. Her telekinesis can go from making things fly to turning people into dust."_

Kurt and Jean watch Charles and Hank stunned by the teenage girl's statement. Even Harley was surprised by what she said.

 _"You knew all of that?" Hank asked her._

 _Harley frowns. "Yeah, I guess I did. How did I do that?"_

 _"Harley, I think I figured out your powers," Charles Xavier tells her of her true mutation. "You can copy mutant powers by touching them skin to skin. That's why you heard everybody's voices in their heads because you replicated Jean's ability read people's minds. Also, you can identify powers, which was what you saw when you were waking up Jean. It's like a vision showing you a mutant's powers. I didn't know Jean's full abilities yet you do."_

 _"That's what I do?" Harley asked, curious about this. "I can have anyone's powers?"_

 _"Not have," Professor corrects her. "You're like a Xerox machine. You copy their powers."_

 _It was impossible to believe, but Harley knew it had to be true. How else could she have possibly heard everything in everyone else's minds? "So what now?"_

 _"For now, Charles and I suggest that you avoid physical contact with everybody," Hank McCoy tells her. "We're not gonna put you in a plastic bubble or anything like that, Harley, but we're help you control your replication."_

 _"Okay, no touching. Got it." One thing was bothering Harley that she needed to spit out. "Professor . . . does Jean know what she is?"_

 _The professor blinks his eyes. "No, she doesn't and you shouldn't tell her. I fear that it will make things worse."_

 _"It was too much for me to handle. It felt like my head was about to explode. Is that why everybody is afraid of her?"_

The real Jean was speechless at this moment. She remembered how everybody would stare at her and walk away. Even thought they would never say anything to her, she still could hear their thoughts.

 _"Harley, since Jean has been here, we've had incidents involving her powers. As far as I know, I'm the only person here who hasn't ignored her. You don't fear her, you only fear her powers. Don't let this come between you both."_

 _Tear began to form in her eyes and her voice began to crack. "I won't. It's just . . . I thought telepathy was just guessing what number that person's thinking of, but it . . . was so much. So much memories, ideas, daydreams, happiness, anger, and . . . so much pain. How can you deal with that everyday, Professor? How can you handle all of it?"_

 _"I look for their happiness," Charles tells his student. "Light can't exist with darkness around it. We all have that, Harley, but we don't let take us down."_

 _"Okay, okay." More tears ran down her face and she hesitantly wipes them off._

 _Feeling bad that she had to go through what he had been through, Charles carefully lifts himself out of his wheelchair and sit on her bed. He embraces her in his arms as Harley lets out her tears. "Darling, it's alright," he gently whispers. "You're alright."_

 _"Professor, I don't ever want to copy her powers, Harley Jeknovorian sobs. "I don't want that again. Please don't ever make do that."_

 _"It's okay, Harley. You don't have to."_

All of a sudden, Jean transports herself and Kurt back to the real world. She sat there gazing at her friend, who had never told the truth of that night.

"Jean?" Kurt says her name, wondering if she was okay.

Finally, Jean is able to speak. "I did that to her." The redhead stood up and attempts to walk out of the room.

Kurt stands up as well and informs her, "Zhat vasn't your fault."

"She said she was my friend, but she's afraid of me."

"It vas in zhe past. Look at you now. You are still her friend."

The redhead nodded her head and denies, "I don't know what to believe anymore. Everybody has always been scared of me for as long as I can remember, especially my parents. I can control their fears if I want to, but I don't. I don't wanna be the monster they think I am."

It was difficult to convince her that her and Harley's friendship was still there, but Kurt didn't want to give up. "Don't zhink of it something bad. You helped her discover her ability, vhich is a good zhing."

"No, it's not, Kurt. It's no wonder she never talks about that night and she avoid touching me at all times."

Unsure of what else to say, Kurt Wagner says, "Jean, she didn't vant to tell you because she didn't vant to ruin your friendship. If Harley vas really scared of you, zhen she vould have stopped being your friend. I only knew you guys for one day, but I've seen how great your friendship is. Don't ruin it like this."

"I don't know, Kurt," Jean murmurs.

"How about you let her know how you feel? Just to let it out."

Wanting to make amends, Jean sits back down in the chair next to Harley. "Harley, it's me, Jean. I know you saw my powers. It was too much for to handle. I get it. Now you know why everybody is afraid of me, especially my parents. You're the first friend I've had when I came here." Her voice begins to crack and her eyes water. "I understand if you're still scared of me, but I just want you to know that I'm here. I'm here, Harley, and you can wake up. At least show me that you're still here."

Kurt stood there in silence as Jean weeps in sadness. Her hand rested on the bed near Harley's limp hand.

Then, something happened. Something incredible.

Harley's hand slowly yet shakily moves into Jean's palm. Both Kurt and Jean gasp in amazement as they witness the event.

"She's here." Kurt Wagner smiles as bright as the sun. "She knows we're here."

Unfortunately, it wasn't a happy moment for Harley. Her copying ability begins to activate and she unknowingly replicates Jean's powers once again.

Inside of her head, the darkness began to disappear. Harley found herself walking down the stairs of the mansion. It was dark inside with no one around.

Her hair was down and she was wearing the same outfit she had on during they day of Apocalypse.

Once she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she heard a creek on the floor. Harley looks back and raises her voice, "Who's there?" She turns back and finds a mysterious yet familiar figure. "Natalie?"

The young girl whom Harley watched over at the mansion was pale with dark circles under her eyes. She looks up at the cat girl and mumbles, "Why did you leave us, Harley?"

"What?" Harley shook her head in confusion. "I'm here, Natalie. What are you talki—"

"You left us. You left us, Harley!"

Frightening by her, Harley begins backing away from her. She then finds herself in what seems to be a party.

"What the hell?" She says under her breath.

From her point of view, it looked more like an orgy of some sorts. People were drinking, girls were dancing seductively, and all of them were mutants. Harley could tell by most of their obvious physical mutations.

A few of them acknowledged her, especially the ones that were dancing towards her and looked like drunk. "Oh, sorry. I'm not into that. Hello there."

"Is it her?" A girl's voice says aloud. "Is that _Copycat_?"

Harley knew that they must've been talking about her. She turns to the voice and finds Jubilee walking towards her.

"Jubilee, what's wrong with your eyes?" She gasped, staring into Jubilee's full white eyes.

"I can see everything," she hisses. "I see you leaving us here to rot."

The girl attempts to step away, but Jubilee grabs a hold of her arm. "No, Jubilee, it's okay." Harley tries to calm her down. "I-I can help! I can still save you!"

"We're all rotting because of you!" Everyone surrounding her groans in agony as their skin begins to wrinkle. "You lead us to hell!"

Harley begins running towards the hallway of darkness. _"Zhe one . . . "_ Kurt's voice is shouting in the background. _" . . . Zhe only, zhe infamous Copycat!"_

The walls of the hallway came crashing down, causing Harley to fall. When they stopped, the girl finds herself strapped to a table. They were medical supplies and tubes all around her with a light over her head.

Out of the blue, a dark figure looks down at her from above the light. It was too dark for Harley to make out his face, but all she could see were his red eyes and a bright, glowing red diamond on his forehead.

"Oh, my dear, you have no idea how powerful you are," he says as he gently caresses her face. His voice was low and sophisticated, yet it sent a chill down Harley's spine. "In this world, there are people like you who can fly, make fire, and disappear into thin air. Then, there's you—the one who can have anyone's powers."

Harley panted, "What do you want from me?"

"I want to make you invincible, Splendid!"

The light above her then blinded her. Harley blinks her eyes multiple times while listening to the sound of a hospital heart monitor machine. She hears the sound slowing down and coming to a sudden stop.

 _"Dad?"_ A familiar voice says with a tone of sadness.

Finally, the light disappears and Harley is able to see again. She was a hospital room, standing in the corner.

She knew what this place was. Harley turns around to find his mother crying and hugging her sister, Linda and her brother, Adam. Her other brother, Steven was sitting on the chair with his face in his hands, while her brother, Michael hugs their other sister, Christina.

It made sense of what this was. Harley witness the memory right in front of her.

She remembers this specific date: 10:22 pm, March 7th, 1979.

She watches as two nurses begin writing things down and fixing everything around the bed. Her father's lifeless body laid there with his eyes still and the air leaving his lungs.

Next to him was a whimpering 13 year-old Harley leaning over and mumbles, _"D-Dad? Daddy?"_

The real Harley looses her breath as the younger version of herself holds her father's face and cries. "No . . . no!" Harley screams and runs out the doors.

Now she was in a hallway with nowhere to go _. "Harley?"_ Charles' voice calls out to her. _"Harley?"_

"Professor? Professor, where are you?!" She hollers as she begins running. Harley manages to find an elevator at the end of the hall and continuously presses the button. "Come on, come on!"

Instead of the elevator in front of her opening, it was the other one from a far that opens. Harley takes off to escape the halls, but as she was ran, a sound of heavy footsteps startled her.

A large figure steps out of the elevator and time begins to slow down. Harley kept running, but witnesses three long claws coming out of the man's knuckles.

She knew who it was. The monster that chased her in the base.

Harley stops, which causes her to slip to the floor. Suddenly, the tiled floor was gone.

The floor was now made of grass and Harley discovered that she was outside in a meadow on a bright, sunny day. Above her was Kurt, who was laying besides her. He gently moves her hair out of her face and she begins to breathe again.

"Kurt?" She says aloud, weirded out. "What are you doing?"

To her surprise, Kurt smiles down at her and proclaims, "You have been my greatest love." Before she could question him, the teleporter plants a soft kiss on her lips. The real thing about this was that Harley wasn't complaining and didn't even want this moment to end. He pulls back, leaving her confused but in a good way. "Go back to zhe vorld, Harley. Go back now."


End file.
